Family Systems and Life Cycles

What is a Family?

 Two or more individuals, coming from the

same or different kinship groups, who are
involved in a continuous living arrangement,
usually residing in the same household,
experiencing common emotional bonds, and
sharing certain obligations toward each other
and toward others.
 Family-Centered Nursing
 Gives a broader picture for care of an
individual
 Recognizes that family units may also need
care
 Assumes that families playa critical role in
maintaining health
– Dysfunction in one member may be related
to family disturbance
– Supportive relationships are important
during times of illness
 Characteristics of Families
 Every family is a small social system
 Every family has its own cultural
values and rules
 Every family has structure
 Every family has certain basic
functions
 Every family moves through stages in
its life cycle
 What is a Family Life Cycle?
 The emotional and intellectual “stages” you
pass through from childhood to your
retirement years as a member of a family
 They are important because your family can
profoundly influence your behavior and
development
 Successful transitioning may help prevent
disease and emotional or stress-related
disorders
Transitional Stage (Carter and
McGoldrick)
 “Between Families” stage includes
leaving family of origin and beginning a
family of marriage
 Developmental Tasks:
 To differentiate self in relation to the family
of origin
 To develop intimate peer relationships
 To establish self in relation to work and
financial independence
Eight Stages of Nuclear Family
Life Cycle (Duvall and Miller)
 Married Couples (No children)
 Childbearing families
 Families with preschool children
 Families with school children
 Families with teenagers
 Families launching young adults
 Middle-aged parents
 Aging family members
 Married Couples
– No children
– Beginning families

• Developmental Tasks:
• To establish a mutually satisfying marriage
• To relate harmoniously to the kin network
• To plan a family
 Childbearing families
– Oldest child aged birth to 30 months

•Developmental Tasks:
•To set up young family as a stable unit
•To reconcile conflicting developmental tasks
and needs of family members
•To maintain mutually satisfying marital
relationship
•To expand relationships within family
 Families with preschool children
– Oldest child aged 2½ to 6 years

• Developmental Tasks:
• To meet basic family needs (housing, food,
etc.)
• To socialize the children
• To integrate new child members into the
family
• To maintain healthy relationships within the
family
 Families with school children
– Oldest child aged 6 to 13 years

• Developmental Tasks:
• To socialize the children
• To maintain a satisfying marital
relationship
• To meet physical health needs of family
members
 Families with teenagers
– Oldest child aged 13 to 20 years

• Developmental Tasks:
• To balance freedom with responsibility of
teenagers
• To focus on the marital relationship
• To communicate openly between parents
and children
 Families launching young adults
– Stage begins when oldest child leaves
home and ends when youngest child
leaves home

•Developmental Tasks:
• To balance freedom with responsibility
of teenagers
• To focus on the marital relationship
• To communicate openly between
parents and children
 Middle-aged parents
– Stage begins with empty nest and
ends at start of retirement

• Developmental Tasks:
• To prepare for retirement
• To re-focus on marriage without children
• To realign relationships to include in-laws
and grandchildren
• To adjust to role as caregiver with
declining health of elderly parents
 Aging family members
– Stage begins with spouses’ retirement
and ends at their deaths

•Developmental Tasks:
• To promote healthy, active retirement as
body ages
• To explore new family and social roles
• To adjust to a reduced income, and loss
(death of siblings, friends, and spouse)
• To review and reflect on life and experiences
 Traits of a Healthy Family
 Communicates  Rituals and traditions
 Affirms/Supports  Interaction balance
 Respects  Shared religious care
 Trusts  Respects privacy
 Provides play/Humor  Values service to
 Shared Responsibility others
 Teaches right and  Values table time and
wrong conversation
 Shares leisure time  Admits to and seeks
help with problems
Family Functions Contributing
to Health Promotion
 Affection: Provides a nurturing emotional
climate that contributes to healthy growth
and development
 Sense of cohesiveness and nurturance
 Maintaining morals and motivation
 Socialization
 Physical maintenance
 Provides and regulates economic resources
 Family Nursing Process
 Collect family data
 Build a trusting relationship
 Identify family strengths
 Identify actual or potential problems
 Set mutually agreed upon goals
 Set priorities
 Initiate interventions
 Evaluate effectiveness
 Role of the Nurse in Family
Health Promotion
 Collaborate between family and health
professionals
 Function as as client advocate
 Promote and provide health education
 Assist family to access resources
 Guide families to identify strengths
 Establish priorities for change and growth
 Formulate and evaluate plans for lifestyle
modification
 References

 www.healthsci.clayton.edu/NURS410/familysy
.htm
 www.unt.edu/cpe/module2/thrybase.htm
 www.peacehealth.org/kbase/topic/special/ty6
171/sec1.htm