Initial Data Base for Family Nursing Practice

A. Family Structure Characteristics and Dynamics

1. Members of the household and relationship to the head of the family.
2. Demographic data-age, sex, civil status, position in the family
3. Place of residence of each member-whether living with the family or elsewhere
4. Type of family structure-e.g. patriarchal, matriarchal, nuclear or extended
5. Dominant family members in terms of decision making especially on matters of health care
6. General family relationship/dynamics-presence of any obvious/readily observable conflict between members; characteristics, communication/interaction patterns among members.

B. Socio-economic and Cultural Characteristics

1. Income and expenses
   1. Occupation, place of work and income of each working member
   2. Adequacy to meet basic necessities (food, clothing, shelter)
   3. Who makes decision about money and how it is spent
2. Educational Attainment of each Member
3. Ethnic Background and Religious Affiliation
4. Significant others-role (s) they play in family’s life
5.  Relationship of the family to larger community-nature and extent of participation of the family in community activities

C. Home Environment

1. Housing
   1. Adequacy of living space
   2. Sleeping in arrangement
   3. Presence of breathing or resting sites of vector of diseases (e.g. mosquitoes, roaches, flies, rodents,  etc.)
   4. Presence of accident hazard
   5. Food storage and cooking facilities
   6. Water supply-source, ownership, pot ability
   7. Toilet facilities-type, ownership, sanitary condition
   8. Garbage/refuse disposal-type, sanitary condition
   9. Drainage System-type, sanitary condition
2. Kind of Neighborhood, e.g. congested, slum etc.
3. Social and Health facilities available
4. Communication and transportation facilities available

D. Health Status of Each Family Member

1. Medical Nursing history indicating current or past significant illnesses or beliefs and practices conducive to health and illness
2. Nutritional assessment (especially for vulnerable or at risk members)
   •  Anthropometric data: measures of nutritional status of children-weight, height, mid-upper arm circumference; risk assessment measures for obesity : body mass index(BMI=weight in kgs. divided by height in meters2), waist circumference (WC: greater than 90 cm. in men and greater than 80 cm. in                women), waist hip ration (WHR=waist circumference in cm. divided by hip circumference in cm. Central  obesity: WHR is equal to or greater than 1.0 cm in men and 0.85 in women)
   • dietary history specifying quality and quantity of food or nutrient per day
   • Eating/ feeding habits/ practices
3. Developmental assessment of infant, toddlers and preschoolers- e.g. Metro Manila DevelopmentalScreening  Test (MMDST).
4. Risk factor assessment indicating presence of major and contributing modifiable risk factors for specific  lifestyle diseases-e.g. hypertension, physical inactivity, sedentary lifestyle, cigarette/ tobacco smoking,            elevated blood lipids/ cholesterol, obesity, diabetes mellitus, inadequate fiber intake, stress, alcohol                drinking, and other substance abuse.
5. Physical Assessment indicating presence of illness state/s (diagnosed or undiagnosed by medical practitioners )
6. Results of laboratory/diagnostic and other screening procedures supportive of assessment findings.

E. Values, Habits, Practices on Health Promotion, Maintenance and Disease Prevention. Examples include:

1. Immunization status of family members
2. Healthy lifestyle practices. Specify.
3. Adequacy of:
   • Rest and sleep
   • Exercise/activities
   • Use of protective measure-e.g. adequate footwear in parasite-infested areas; use of bed nets andprotective clothing in      malaria and filariasis endemic areas.
   • Relaxation and other stress management activities
4. Use of promotive-preventive health services