Friedman Family Assessment Short Form

Family theorist is Murary

Bowen or one you choose. Thanks.

Toni

Identifying Data

  • Family name
  • Address and phone 
  • Family composition 
  • Type of family form 
  • Cultural (ethnic) background 
  • Religious identification
  • Social class status  
  • Family’s recreational or leisure-time activities
  • Developmental Stage and History of Family
  • Family’s present developmental stage 
  • Extent of family developmental tasks fulfillment
  • Nuclear family history 
  • History of family of origin of both parents

Environmental Data

  • Characteristics of home 
  • Characteristics of neighborhood and larger community 
  • Family’s geographic mobility 
  • Family’s associations and transactions with community
  • Family’s social support system or network

Family Structure

  • Communication patterns
  • Extent of functional and dysfunctional communication (types of recurring patterns)
  • Extent of emotional (affective) messages and how expressed 
  • Characteristics of communication within family subsystems
  • Extent of congruent and incongruent messages

Types of dysfunctional communication processes seen in family Areas of open and closed communication

  • Familial and contextual variables affecting communication
  • Power structure 
  • Power outcomes
  • Decision-making process
  • Power bases
  • Variables affecting family power

Overall family system and subsystem power (Family power continuum placement)

  • Role structure
  • Formal role structure
  • Informal role structure

Analysis of role models (optional) Variables affecting role structure

  • Family values
  • Compare the family to American or family reference group values and/or identify important family values and their importance (priority) in the family.
  • Congruence between the family’s values and the family’s reference group or wider community
  • Congruence between the family’s values and family member’s values Variables influencing family values
  • Values consciously or unconsciously held
  • Presence of value conflicts in family
  • Effect of the above values and value conflicts on health status of family

Family Functions

  • Affective function

Family’s need–response patterns

  • Mutual nurturance, closeness, and identification Separateness and connectedness

Socialization function

  • Family child-rearing practices
  • Adaptability of child-rearing practices for family form and family’s situation
  • Who is (are) socializing agent(s) for child(ren)?
  • Value of children in family
  • Cultural beliefs that influence family’s child-rearing patterns
  • Social class influence on child-rearing patterns
  • Estimation about whether family is at risk for child-rearing problems and if so, indication of high risk factors
  • Adequacy of home environment for children’s need to play

Health care function

Family’s health beliefs, values, and behavior

  • Family’s definitions of health–illness and their level of knowledge Family’s perceived health status and illness susceptibility
  • Family’s dietary practices. Adequacy of family diet (recommended 3-day food history record) Function of mealtimes and attitudes toward food and mealtimes Shopping (and its planning) practices Person(s) responsible for planning, shopping, and preparation of meals Sleep and rest habits

Physical activity and recreation practices (not covered earlier)

  • Family’s drug habits
  • Family’s role in self-care practices

Medically based preventive measures (physicals, eye and hearing   tests, and immunizations)

  • Dental health practices
  • Family health history (both general and specific diseases— environmentally and genetically related)
  • Health care services received
  • Feelings and perceptions regarding health services
  • Emergency health services
  • Source of payments for health and other services
  • Logistics of receiving care

Family Stress and Coping

  • Short- and long-term familial stressors and strengths
  • Extent of family’s ability to respond, based on objective appraisal of stress-producing situations

Coping strategies utilized (present/past)

  • Differences in family members’ ways of coping Family’s inner coping strategies
  • Family’s external coping strategies

Dysfunctional adaptive strategies utilized (present/past; extent of usage)

Name (last, first)

1.                  (Father)

2.                  (Mother) 

3. (Oldest child)

STRUCTURE: Refers to how family is organized, and how they relate to each other & to the whole. Four interactive & interrelated dimensions:

  • Role systems
  • Value Systems
  • Communication networks
  • Power Structure

FUNCTION: Refers to how families go about meeting needs of individuals and broader society. Family functions are what a family does. Five family function dimensions:

  • Affective
  • Socialization
  • Reproductive
  • Health care
  • Economic

Additionally…. How a family deals with stress, coping, adaptation, and SPIRITUALITY are all important in our assessments of families.