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Obtain Family Consent 10-6-06
Paper Due: 12-7-06

Purpose of Assignment:  This assignment involves performing a thorough family assessment using the Friedman Family Assessment Model, analyzing the data and drawing conclusions about family health status. 35 of your 64 hours of 751 is devoted to this activity.  Select a healthy family that agrees to work with you this semester; healthy families will simplify assessment activities given the time frame of the course (versus pathological individual/family situations). Do not choose a relative, close friend, or neighbor for this assignment. At the first visit, explain the purpose of the clinical activities to the family and ask all members to sign 2 copies of the consent form. Give one copy of the consent to the family, retain one copy for your records, and be prepared to mail or Fax (913-588-1660) one copy to me upon request. A minimum of three visits approximately 2-3 hours in length should be made. It will likely be necessary to make four to five visits to ensure complete assessment. Use Individual/Family Assessment Notes Form to record your family visit notes. The relationship with the family ends at the end of the assessment and semester end.

Overview of Assignment:  Complete a family assessment using Friedman's Family Assessment Model (Short Form- Pages 593). Address each of the major areas of the assessment model by collecting data for items of relevance to the family. Addressing every single item is not necessary, but focus on those items in areas that appear to be more important to the family's functioning. This process can be iterative, that is, after reviewing data for a given area of the assessment, you may need to go back to the family with additional questions to help clarify or strengthen the data. Inductive knowledge building processes involve this type of activity.

Methodology:  

1. Family Concept Definitions
   
   Assess the meanings of at least eight of the concepts below with two family members. It is ideal to garner the definitions from each member when they are alone (each member may be influenced by the other's responses). Record individual members' responses. Address each concept separately. If other concepts are more appropriate to the members' situation, substitute them. In some cases you may need to substitute simpler terms or concepts depending on the educational level of the individual family members. (10 points)

2. Family Concept Analysis
   
   From the 8 concepts assessed, identify one major concept of concern to the family that is relevant to potential for family alterations in psychological/physiological well-being. For this concept, assess their subjective understanding of the concept and how it applies to them by identifying antecedents, defining characteristics, and consequences of the concept. Use open-ended questions, using lay terminology, which gets at what you are requesting. For example, for the concept Role Conflict, "what things have led to a Role Conflict for you in the past?" would be one way of getting information on antecedents. Another question for identifying defining characteristics might be: "when you are experiencing a Role Conflict how do you feel and what do you do?" For consequences: "what has happened in the end after you have dealt with the Role Conflict?". These concept analysis exercises are another means of acquiring knowledge in an inductive manner. (10 points total, antecedents, defining characteristics, and consequences for 2 family members)
    

3. Diagram Summary
   
   Complete a genogram (p. 231), ecomap (p. 497), and attachment diagram for the family (p. 385). (15 points) These diagrams are used as assessment tools but are not submitted to the instructor.  Summarize in one paragraph the findings from these diagrams.  This brief summary is submitted.
    

4. Theory Application Summary
   
   Based on your assessment (using Friedman's short form), the family concept definitions/analyses, and the genogram, ecomap and attachment diagram, identify a family problem area or potential family growth area.  Explain how you might use family theory/concept to intervene and evaluate the problem/growth area that you identified.  This summary is reported (theory application) in one single-spaced typewritten page. (50 points)
    

5. Reflection
   
   Summarize your reflections on this process.  What were your lessons learned, difficulties encountered, and strengths identified. (15 points)
    

6. Items to be submitted via email attachment

   1. Family Concept Definitions (see item 1)

   2. Family Concept Analysis (see item 2)

   3. Genogram, ecomap, and attachment diagram summary paragraph (see item 3 summary)

   4. Theory Application Summary (see item 4)

   5. Reflection