Impact of family demands and family strengths and capabilities on family well-being and adaptation after critical injury

1998 ◽  
Vol 7 (5) ◽  
pp. 383-392 ◽  
Author(s):  
JS Leske ◽  
MK Jiricka

BACKGROUND: Increases in demands on patients' family members that are not reduced by family strengths may contribute to decreases in family adaptation and complicate patients' recovery after trauma. The purpose of this study was to examine family demands (prior stressors and severity of patients' injuries) and family strengths and capabilities (hardiness, resources, coping, and problem-solving communication) associated with outcomes of family well-being and adaptation. METHODS: A multivariate, descriptive design based on the Resiliency Model of Family Stress was used. A convenience sample of family members (N = 51) of adult patients participated within the first 2 days of critical injury. Family demands were measured with the Family Inventory of Life Events and Changes and the Acute Physiology, Age, and Chronic Health Evaluation III. Family strengths were measured with the Family Hardiness Index, Family Inventory of Resources for Management, Family Crisis Oriented Personal Evaluation Scale, and Family Problem Solving Communication Index. Family adaptation outcomes were measured with the Family Well Being Index and Family Adaptation Scale. RESULTS: Increases in family demands were significantly related to decreases in family strengths and family adaptation. Family demands scores accounted for 40% of the variance in family well-being scores. The only significant family strength variable influencing family adaptation was problem-solving communication. CONCLUSIONS: Increases in family demands seem to be an important indicator of the amount of assistance a family may need. Interventions that help mobilize family strengths, such as problem-solving communication, may be effective in promoting the adaptation of families of critically injured patients.

2011 ◽  
Vol 63 (4) ◽  
pp. 343-358 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abraham P. Greeff ◽  
Alfons Vansteenwegen ◽  
Tina Herbiest

The aim of this study was to identify and describe resilience qualities in families after losing a child. Questionnaires, including an open-ended question, were utilized to collect data independently from the parents and siblings of the deceased in 89 Belgian families. The results indicate that family strengths in general, and commitment to the family in particular, helped the families' adaptation after the loss. In addition, the adaptation process after the loss was aided if the family members viewed the crisis as a challenge. Both the siblings and the parents indicated that the extent to which a family experienced support from the community was directly related to family adaptation after the loss. Redefining the situation and utilizing social support from friends and family were underlined as effective family coping strategies. The findings could be used in interventions to promote family resilience, thereby affirming the reparative potential of families.


2020 ◽  
pp. 135910531990027
Author(s):  
Assimina Tsibidaki

The study focuses on families raising a child with cerebral palsy to investigate family strengths and their association with family and parent demographic characteristics in Greece and Italy. Participants were 120 parents raising a biological child with cerebral palsy. Data collection used a self-report questionnaire and the Family Strengths Inventory. According to the findings, families share a high sense of family strengths, which is mainly represented in the high sense of ‘pride’ and ‘accord’. In addition, demographic characteristics seem to be important predictors of well-being and strengthen parents and families raising a child with cerebral palsy.


2016 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Aditi Rana

Mental illness is a growing reality of our times. Usually in a typical Indian family, the parents act as the primary caregivers for the child suffering from mental disorder. For adult sufferers, it can also be siblings or offspring, and  at times even spouse or partner. Research on the experiences of families of mentally ill people has been minimal in the Indian context. This study aims to shift the focus from the mentally ill patients to the suffering of the caregivers and families of the patient keeping in mind the interconnected well being of the family in a collectivist culture. Following a qualitative approach, narratives have been taken from the family members of mentally ill (narratives of 8 families with mentally ill person) and also the mental health professionals (two) through semi structured interviews. The findings suggest that the family members suffer from a significant amount of stress accompanied by burden. Also, they feel secluded from the society and experience a lack of assistance to deal with the mentally ill member of the family.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdallah Badahdah ◽  
◽  
Azza Abdelmoneium ◽  
John DeFrain ◽  
Sylvia Asay ◽  
...  

All the problems in the world either begin in families or end up in families. Sometimes families create their own problems, and at other times, families are forced to deal with problems that the world has thrust upon them. For this reason, it is imperative that all societies seek to understand families in all their considerable diversity; to protect families; and to help strengthen families through intervention on the level of the family, the immediate community, the nation, and the international community. Research teams were assembled and conducted focus group studies of family members in Qatar, Jordan, and Tunisia. The purpose of this preliminary report is to discuss the qualitative research findings from focus groups with Arab family members in all three countries, revealing their perceptions of Arab family strengths and challenges, and how they see that families under stress can be better supported by society


Author(s):  
Darby Morhardt ◽  
Marcia Spira

When a member of a family is diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, the impact of the disease reverberates throughout the relationships within the family. This paper explores the challenges and strengths within one family as members manage and cope with Alzheimer's disease. The person with dementia and his family members are individually interviewed and each person explores the consequences of the disease on personal well-being as well as the relationships within the family. The family demonstrates how dementia in one family member demands flexibility in family roles as they navigate life through the challenges of living with dementia.


Author(s):  
Veronica Dussel ◽  
Barbara Jones

In this chapter, we will focus on the importance of caring for the family of a child with a life-limiting condition (LLC) or life-threatening condition as a unit, each of the family members being integral to the well-being and care of the others. We recognize that the family unit itself is embedded within a wider context including the health and social care system, and more broadly within its society and culture. We discuss the concept of family, exploring the impact of having a child with an LLC, and how families adjust to this. We then expand on considerations about how to offer effective and timely support and help. We have included parents’ narratives with the aim of adding depth to the discussion, and in recognition of the truth of families’ own experiences.


2005 ◽  
Vol 60 (4) ◽  
pp. 317-329 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carol M. Musil ◽  
Theresa Standing

Little information exists about the daily lives of women who are grandmothers, and the differences in daily stresses based on caregiving status to grandchildren. This content analysis examines the stresses of 64 grandmothers as grouped by caregiver status (grandmothers raising grandchildren, grandmothers living in multigeneration homes, non-caregivers to grandchildren) as recorded in three-week diaries. The nature of salient issues and stressful interactions differed by caregiver groups. Grandmothers raising grandchildren reported more stresses related to grandchildren's routines, activities, and school progress, more time pressure, and difficult interactions with grandchildren. The diary entries of grandmothers in multigenerational homes reflected their supplemental role in childcare, and sometimes stressful interactions with other family members. Grandmothers with no routine caregiving to grandchildren reported more involvement with those outside the immediate family. Many general concerns about the well-being of the family represent commonalities in grandmothers despite differences in current caregiving roles to grandchildren.


Paragrana ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 214-234
Author(s):  
Christoph Wulf

Abstract This German-Japanese ethnographic study shows how important happiness and a satisfying life are for people, as well as how important the family is in this context. In an ethnographic study we examined the Christmas rituals of three families in Germany and the New Year rituals of three families in Japan. The goal of our study was to find out how family members create their well-being and happiness in rituals. In their mise-en-scène and staging of the happiness language and imagination, corporeality and performativity, mimetic processes, rituals, and gestures play an important role. We discovered and also analyzed transcultural elements of family happiness: the sacred foundation of the family, the importance of the communal meal, the role of the exchange of gifts, the function of narratives and memories, and the importance of time for each other to create togetherness.


2007 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 355-379 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine Chase Goodman

Grandparent-headed families, called grandfamilies, are increasingly important in assisting adult children and grandchildren. This study ( N = 376) provides a qualitative analysis of statements made by grandmothers about relationships between three core family members: (a) grandmother, (b) parent, and (c) grandchild. These family members constitute an intergenerational triad, displaying a variety of relationship patterns based on emotional closeness or distance. The most common configuration in three-generation families was all-three inter-generational members emotionally close or connected, and comments about relationships reflected problem solving, communication, and emotional management. Families in which the parent was close to and linked both adjacent generations were also frequent, and comments showed a clear parenting hierarchy with grandmother as secondary. Few families had weak, disconnected relationships between all three triad members or an emotionally isolated parent: These patterns were related to low grandmother and grandchild well-being. Evaluating intergenerational relationships aids identification of at-risk grandfamilies and has implications for family interventions.


Author(s):  
Eleftherios Giovanis

This study examines the relationship between teleworking, gender roles and happiness of couples using data from the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS) and the Understanding Society Survey (USS) during the period 1991-2012. Various approaches are followed, including Probit-adapted fixed effects, multinomial Logit and Instrumental variables (IV). The results support that both men and women who are teleworkers spend more time on housework, while teleworking increases the probability that the household chores examined in this study, such as cooking, cleaning ironing and childcare, will be shared relatively to those who are non-teleworkers. In addition, women are happier when they or their spouse is teleworker, as well as, both men and women are happier when they state that the specific household chores are shared. Thus, women teleworkers may be happier because they can face the family demands and share the household chores with their spouse, increasing their fairness belief about the household division allocation and improving their well-being, expressed by happiness.


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