Concepts of Health: Analysis of the Family

Concepts of Health: Analysis of the Family Health concepts in my family are very important. My family is consisting of three people, just my parents and me as other siblings have been married off. We believe that health is how we maintain ourselves every day and how we take care of our needs and important resources such as water, food and shelter. Well-being is considered to be how we take care of our relationships with each other. We believe that our spiritual beliefs and our thinking shape us on our behavior and attitude. Health and wellbeing in my family is also affected by how we feel most of the time. For example; whenever there is my argument at home, we all will not feel good and feel disturbed all the time until it is solved. Figure 1. Chand, K. (2010). Family Photo. (Personal photograph). This is my family photo which was taken at a wedding. In my life, family means a lot and they are the reason why I want to study and become someone better and they are also the reason for my existence. Without them my life is not possible and my family has been with me more than anyone else as they really understand me very well. Basically, my family is my resource for my everyday life and they are my number one needs and wants. When I looked at my family I see lots of hope in their eyes for me and I want to make sure that I am able to fulfill those hopes one day. Family is said to be working like chains which is repeated every now and then. The younger ones learns from elder ones while elder members of the family have their hopes high from the younger members and this chain is always repeated when younger members starts their own family later on (Asif,.n.d) Even though my sisters are married, they have moved to a new house and have their own family, we all three are in touch every day so anyone of us do not miss anything, we share what is happening in our lives and be update with each other always. My family belief it is best to be united with each other and this is done by either a small prayer on Tuesday at any one’s place or by a small get together every weekend. We bring gifts and sweets to each other’s place whenever any gathering happens. From a nursing perspective I will ensure that the patients I am working with will have their family around them because I really understand what family means and they are the only thing we all wish when unwell. Family can encourage you to get better and give hope to live life. When caring for a patient, a health practitioner should not only care for the patient but also be able to care for the whole family as the family is also affected (WebMD, 2014). Therefore, I will consider caring for the whole family as my patient and try to solve their problems and give support to them all. Figure 2. Chand, K. (2014). Friends Photo. (Personal Photograph) This is photo of my really close and best friends Shazyana and Manjani. I have known them for last one year and I really value their stay in my life. Friends are important to me because they are the ones I turned up to when in trouble or when I am lost and not sure of what I want. They are the only people I share my feelings with when I know that it is not safe to share at home or with any of the family members. They are always there for me like a family and I consider them as my sisters since both of them are older than me and they have always taken care of me as a little sister. For me, having true friends like them is a blessing and something to be proud of. Only true friends will stand during good and bad times and also face the rough phases of our lives and they are ones who can bring laughter and joy in our life (friendshipscolours,. n.d). My friends enhance my health as they always are there to support me and give me the right treatment. Whenever I talk to them I get mentally relaxed and feel prepared to fight any problem. From my nursing perspective, I believe that friends can help one to recover soon and they are the biggest support other than families. I would like to encourage my patients and try to become their friend but in staying in my professional limit all the time. Personal relationships play an important role in healing someone and strong relationships can lead to long and healthy relationships (University of Minnesota, 2013). Figure 3. Chand, K. (2015). Nieces and Nephew. (Personal Photograph). This picture is of my nieces and nephew, they are my elder sister’s children. The one in middle is eleven years old and her name is Anusha, the boy is nine years old and his name is Chetan whereas the one in the side is six years old and she is Shivwali. These children are very important to me and they mean my life not because I am their aunty but because how they see me. They consider me not less than their mum as all three of them shares things with me, their feelings and we all have our little secrets with each other. Some kids also find talking to their aunties more easier than talking to their mum (home and family, n.d.). I have seen them growing up and I am really proud to say that they are the best children I have ever seen and no one can replace them in my life not even my own kids when I will have my own family. They hold a very special place in my life and these children are full of life and are very innocent. My nieces and nephews health and wellbeing are very important to me because if anything happens to them I will not be able to handle it and also their wellbeing and health affects my health and wellbeing. When they are sick or having any troubles I feel the pain aswell because I feel emotionally connected with them. For example; in 2011 when Chetan broke his arm and was in pain for many days, I was not able to concreate on my studies and even though I was at school my mind was with him full time. Whenever I communicate with them and I see them I feel relaxed and I feel that yes I got a reason to live for. They are my inspirational and my motivation, they are the ones who have taught me to live life and also taught how to fight towards any odd. From nursing perspective, I will make sure that all my patients also have a inspiration in their life to make them wanting to live and get better. It may not only be the patients who are sick and suffering from illness but also the ones who are mentally and emotional disturbed and I am also interested i working with patients like them. This is because I have also went though depression in past due to boyfriend problems and I was at a point where I just want to end my life and that moment not knowingly my nieces and nephew had taught me valuable lesson for life. I saw how much they loved me and how much they had cared for me than I realized that when small children know how to live and love everyone than why us adults cannot be strong enough. I will try to treat my patients with the same love and care I have for my little ones and hopefully be able to teach them the valuable means of life my nieces and nephew have taught me. Just how these kids have saved my life once I want to save m any lives ahead. Figure 4. Temple Photo, (2015). Google Images. This is a photo of temple for us Indians and it is a scared place. Temple is said to be a place where we can find answers to all our questions and a place where we can also find peace. I personally like going to temple because for me I can relax and communicate with our gods. That heart to heart communication between me and my gods is very important because I share all my problems with them but not with the intention of getting it solved but receiving the strength to be strong during my fight. It is my family belief that when god has given us problems than he has also open doors to many solutions, but we just need to relax and find those ways to the doors of the solution. And also we have a mini temple at our home to worship gods and keep their photos and statues. I have noticed that whenever I talk to gods I can always see some differences on their faces, I do not find it stranger because it might be because that is how I see it. My wellbeing and health is affect by my beliefs in go ds because whenever I am sick I know that god will recover me in any way and that sharing my problems with them gives me a peace of mind and gives me hope and strength. Trusting god is like a belief that he has the power to help you and he will help you (Joyce Meyer, n.d) From a nursing perspective I believe that every individual will have belief like i do and these beliefs can enhance their health and wellbeing. Research shows that people who have spiritual beliefs have less chances of stress and do not think of harming themselves at all, they may get depressed in difficult solutions but their spiritual beliefs will keep them going (The Nemours Foundation, 2015). I would respect their beliefs because I know that their spiritual belief can enhance their health and wellbeing like it does to me. I will also encourage my patients to follow their spiritual beliefs and make sure that they meet their needs on time. Figure 5. Glucose meter, (2015). Google Images. This is a photo of a glucose machine which is used for measuring sugar levels in the blood. This machine will tell the amount of glucose in blood just by putting a drop of blood on a strip and inserting in the machine, the meter can generate the results in either two ways. One way is where it will measure the amount of electricity which is in the sample or the other one is where it will measure the amount of light reflects from the sample (MedicineNet, n.d). Maintaining sugar levels is very important to me because my dad is a diabetic patient. He has type two diabetic and his sugar levels is high most the time. He is not allowed to eat sweets and anything that contains sugar in it. My family is also strict on that matter with dad and dad always gets scolding whenever he tries to eat sweets. Diabetes affects me and my family’s health and wellbeing because it worries us about dad’s health and also that it is in our genes so we are scared most of the time that we children and our children in future will not have it. It affects our wellbeing because dad always wants to have sweets as he likes to eat sweets and when he is not able to eat than he gets angry and sad. We know that he is mentally disturbed and worried and he is craving for sweets but unfortunately we cannot do much help to him. From my nursing perspective, I will make sure that all of my patients sugar levels are normal and whoever has diabetes I would like them to view it as positive thing than a negative one because if they will take it negatively than they will not want the treatment for it and diabetes will kill them emotionally and mentally inside. Some patients might feel afraid of it and some might also feel depressed too but I will try to be on their side all the time and help them fight diabetes. When the person who has diabetes has the support and love of close ones than they are better to manage it probably as it is hard to fight disease like that alone ( National Diabetes Education Program, n.d) Figure 6. Music (2015),. Google Images Music is something which is important to me and my health and wellbeing. I love music and I believe that it relaxes me and makes me forget my problems for a while. Music is very beneficial because it can lead to creatively, it is the language of the universe, it has spiritual powers, and it can change moods and music brings people together (dotan negrin, n.d.). Music is also important because it is in our culture as well. We Hindus sing songs for gods at every occasion, and it is a belief that you get more close to gods and pleased them with music. Most of the mantra we say while praying is in songs so we pray to gods while singing songs and playing some music instruments. Music affects my wellbeing and health because whenever I am upset or sad I listen to music and I get relaxed and I try to forget my problems and gather the strength to fight it back. Music plays the same role in my life which temple and gods do. When in problem or not in good mood I take them on board and they make me feel relax. Also health wise, when I am sick or not feeling well I try listening to music which works for me as I start feeling better and maybe not start recovering but I feel fresh and alive. From my nursing perspective, I believe that music can help in treatment and I am saying this from my own personal experience. I will try encouraging my patients to listen to music of their own choice to help them feel better. Research has shown that music has worked its magic in the past and it has been used to get people back to their right state of mind and it has reduced stress and tension in patients (Collingwood, J. 2007). I am sure that we all like music and songs and it is going to be advantage to me while treating my patients in future because I am going to make them listen to music and let them relax. In conclusion my health and wellbeing is affected by my family, friends, my nieces and nephews, our Indian temple, glucose meter and music. All these things help me to keep healthy and keep me emotionally well. REFERENCES Asif,.(n.d). Importance of family in our lives. Retrieved on Febraury 25, 2015, from http://myefforts.hubpages.com/hub/Importance-of-Family-in-our-lives. Collingwood, J. (2007). The Power of Music to Reduce Stress-Psych Central. Retrieved on February 27, 2015, from http://psychcentral.com/lib/the-power-of-music-to-reduce stress/000930 Dotan., Negrin,.(n.d). Piano Around the World. Retrieved on Febraury 22,2015 from http://www.pianoaroundtheworld.com/. Friendships Colours,.(n.d). Friends Importance in Life. Retreieved on Ferbruary 26 2015 from http://sites.google.com/site/friendshipcolours/friend-importance-in-life. Joyce Meyer,. (n.d). How trusting god can transform your life. Retrievd on Febraury 26 2015from http://www.joycemeyer.org/articles/ea.aspx?aritcle.howtrustinggodcantransformyourlife. MedicineNet,.(n.d). Diabetes: Choosing and Using your Glucose Meter. Retrieved on February 23 2015 from http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey.20554. National Diabetes Education Program,. (n.d). How to help a loved one cope with diabetes. Retrieved on Febraury 17 2015 from http://ndep.nih.gov/publications/publishcationdetail.aspx?pubid=45. The Nemours Foudation,. (n.d). How can spirituality affect your familys health. Retrived on February 23 2015. WebMD,.(2014). Family Therapy. Retrieved on Febrauary 15 2015 from http://wwwwebmd.com/balance/family-thearpy-6301. University of Minnesota,. (2014). Why Personal Relationship are Important. Retrievd on Ferbraury 25 2015 from http://www.takingcharge.csh.umn.edu/enhance-your-wellbeing/relationships/why-personal-relationships.are-important. 1