Family Self Care Contract Analysis

How can we not talk about family when family’s all that we got? Everything I went through you were standing there by my side (Khalifa, 2015) are a few of my favorite lyrics. Growing up I remember constantly being surrounded by family. Not to mention family can play a large part in compliance because of their influence. Furthermore, including the family when treating a patient generally holds the best results. At the same time family does not have to mean blood relative, in reality family is whoever that individual deems their family their support system. When a patient is diagnosed with a chronic illness such as Diabetes they are most likely going to require medication, appointments, and lifestyle changes. Compliance can be increased drastically

Once the nurse and family have identified family strengths and areas for growth and change, the family should prioritize its goals. The commitment of all family members directed toward achieving a goal is crucial to the family’s success(). The self-care contract will ultimately benefit everyone in the family in several ways. First, the contract is tangible, and therefore can be held in their hand although it allows room for changes. People tend to do better with flexibility, and information they can see. Second, the contract will outline all goals but also list the expected behaviors of the family. We would make sure that the contract reflected realistic family goals that are obtainable. For example, the contract would include the family attending the diabetic educator as a unit, adhering to family meals that are healthy, and sticking to an exercise regimen. In addition providing appointment support, making sure that medications and glucose monitoring is occurring. The family self-care contract will help hold the family accountable thereby increasing the chance of

When a patient receives a new diagnosis of Diabetes it is important to assess the knowledge of the patient as well as the family. Performing this assessment will allow you to see what their needs are, but also how to proceed to the next step. I anticipate the first need of the family to be education, so I would provide a phone number to a diabetes educator. However, I would require the family to go to the appointment as a unit. I would also present the website information for the American Diabetes Association, diabetic support group, and provide information leaflets to the entire family. During this process the family is able to learn together while providing support for each other. Nurses should offer information based on family abilities and should encourage family members to seek resources independently