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Running Head: GENOGRAM AND ECOMAP
Family Genogram and Ecomap Assignment Lindsey Brain College of New Caledonia Prince George, BC, Canada Nursing 203 Instructor: Vasiliki Douglas
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Appendices Appendix 1 - Genogram
page 7
Appendix 2 ± Ecomap
page 8
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Family Genogram and Ecomap Assignment In 1945, Mark Waters Brain married Edna Herd in Wheatley Hill, England. In 1946, Frederick Thomas Brown wed Mary Maud Stephens in the United States. Keith was the first born in the Brain family, and he was followed by one sister. Carol was the second child born in a set of identical twins in the Brown family, and they were followed by a brother after a miscarriage. In 1978, Keith and Caro l were married in a small church in Victoria, British Columbia. Their first born, Kevin, came in 1981, and Lindsey (the author) followed two years later, both born in Prince George. In the following summary, topics of discussion are our family¶s health influences and events experienced over the three generations, o ur family strengths, a potential community resource that may lead to strengthening our needs for wellness and a brief summary of my exper iences during the process of completing this assignment. Lastly, a key influence or concept will be analyzed as to how it relates to our family. Summary of Genogram and Eco map Mark Waters Brain lived to be 84 years old. He was always in relatively good health, as he walked every morning for an hour. Aside from milder health issues such as losing most of his hearing and dealing with a sensitive stomach, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer five years th
prior to his passing. However, this was a well-managed cancer. He died February 11 , 2006 due to a form of lung cancer caused by asbestos that he used when working as a shipwright throughout his work life. Edna Brain (formerly Herd) is 82 years old and living in Victoria, B.C. Her health history consists of stomach issues related to peptic ulcers, and most recently, she underwent surgery for a complete hysterectomy due to ovarian cysts. Mark and Edna¶s son Keith is 60 years old and living in good health with a mild hearing impairment. His sister Patricia is 57 and suffers from anxiety. On my mother¶s side, her father Frederick Tho mas Brown suffered a heart attack and
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died at the age of 66. For many years, he suffered from alcoholism and hypertension. Mary Maud Brown (formerly Stephens) suffered from a heart arrhythmia and osteo and rheumatoid arthritis in later life. In July, 1995, she passed away fro m cardiac arrest. Their identical twin daughters are Mary Elizabeth and Caro l Ann (59), and their son is John Frederick Tho mas (57). In her early twenties, Mary was diagnosed with a hole in her heart and underwent surgery to correct it. She has also had two melanomas and basal cell skin cancer removed and has osteoarthritis. Both Mary and my mother Carol have a heart arrhythmia like their mother. Carol has also dealt with basal cell skin cancer like her twin sister. She suffers from hypertension brought on first by pregnancy and later exacerbated by stress in her former profession, and has suffered with osteoarthritis for twenty years. As for the children in our family, Kevin (27) and Lindsey (25) are in good health, the youngest suffering from mild anxiety and depr ession. Within the family, there is a history of assorted cancers, hypertension, heart arrhythmias, anxiety, and art hritis. Within the immediate family, Carol¶s hypertension is the biggest and most important health issue. We are all aware of its severity and do our best to support and promote good health not only to Carol, but to each other. A second health influence is stress. We each have our own way of dealing with stress, but we are also supportive of each other in times of high stress. An example of this would be when Grandfather Mark and Grandmother Mary passed away. With the loss of these two family members, we came to gether as a unit and helped each other through the hardest of times emotionally. We are relatively open with o ur feelings, concerns and are not shy about asking other family members health/wellness related questions. Our o pinions are of high value with each other. As a family we have many strengths. We are in relatively good health, and any new or ongoing health and emotional issues are dealt with as they occur as a family. We all
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have a good relationship with our family doctor, which helps. As we all live within the same co mmunity, the family is exposed to the same available resources in Prince George. For example, there are public sessions on how to manage stress, hypertension and the pain of arthritis. Carol uses a massage therapist regularly to help with pain management related to her arthritis and Lindsey has sought the assistance of a local counselor to help her cope with depression and anxiety. From that experience, Lindsey was able to help her family gain a greater understanding of her condition and how they can help her cope. This experience has taught me that knowing and understanding our family health history and present conditions is very important, as it keeps us informed on what to be careful of and what signs and symptoms are pertinent to t hese conditions and diseases. It has also educated me about my family in general, and how we interact with one another as individuals and as a whole. I have a greater understanding for the importance of a family¶s cohesiveness and how to maintain this status by keeping open lines of communication and to be as supportive to one another as possible. Perhaps the most important lesson in this process was learning about the deaths of my Grandparents on my mother¶s side and the issues surrounding these deaths, and I was either unborn or too young to completely understand all factors involved. If I were to do another assignment like this, I would be interested in focusing on the personal relationships within our family, such as how my parents interacted with their parents and siblings, etc. Critical Analysis The key influence pertaining to my family is chronic illness, specifically chronic pain related to arthritis. According to the textbook Nurses and Families, commending family and individual strengths is important in the intervention process (Wright & Leahey 2005). Offering information and opinions, validating emotional respo nses, encouraging talking about illnesses,
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gathering family support and caregiving as well as developing rituals are all very import ant aspects of intervening with a family member suffering from arthritis related pain (Wright & Leahey 2005). If I were to come across information related to my mother¶s arthritic pain, I would relay the new information back to her in hopes of it being of some use to how she copes with daily aches and pains. Sometimes the pain is so much that my mother has an emotional response, such as feeling somewhat helpless and down. It is my responsibility, along with my other family members, to be supportive emotionally and t o validate her feelings. I also encourage her to talk about her thoughts and feelings whenever they arise in conversation, as does my father. I encourage exercise and staying act ive as a form of physical and emot ional therapy, as I believe it is important to maintain consistent in these areas when living with arthritis. Within these domains of family functioning (Wright & Leahey 2005), I believe such interventions can influence positive changes and help continue to encourage my mother to maintain good health and wellness practices and to keep appropriate balance in her life to aid her in living with a chronic illness. As for the remaining family members, it is only natural for us to offer our support and encouragement as often as possible.
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Appendix 1
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Appendix 2
Buy SmartDraw!- purchased copies print this document without a watermark. Visit www.smartdraw.com or call 1-800-768-3729.
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References Wright, L. M., Leahey, M. (2005). Nurses and Families: a guide to family assessment and th
intervention, 4 Edition (153-176). Geneology Software, Genopro. Retrieved Septemer 30th, 2008 from http://www.genopro.com. th
Ecomap Software, Smart Draw. Retrieved Septeber 30 , 2008 from http://www.smartdraw.com/specials/ecomap.htm
