Assessment of Family Functionality Among the Elderly With Chronic Illness

Abstract

The family APGAR scale was developed by Smilkstein, Ashworth, and Montano (1982). The satisfaction assessment of the elderly with chronic illness regarding family is essential. This study aims to describe the socio-demographic and clinical profile of elderly people with chronic illness and correlate with perceived family support. This is a cross-sectional, analytical study of 294 elderly people (51.4% female), patients at the Health Centre in the district of Viseu -Portugal, diagnosed with chronic illness (77.9% cardiovascular); Mean age was 72.22 ± 6.13, 70.7% were married and 52% had 4 years of schooling; Data was gathered using a questionnaire and the Family APGAR (Adaptation, Partnership, Growth, Affection and Resolve). In relation to family functionality, 18.7% perceive families as highly functional, 26.9% mildly dysfunctional and 54.4% severely dysfunction. There is a statistically significant relationship between the family APGAR and the presence of chronic illness (p < 0.001). We found no statistical significance between the family APGAR and gender (p = 0.26), age (p = 0.26), marital status (p = 0.32) and educational level (p = 0.28). Economic, political and social changes in our society has an impact on the family and the support they provide which is manifested among vulnerable groups, as is the case of an elderly person with chronic illness. Thus, we propose specialised psychological support for this age group which is more vulnerable and without the needed support from within the family.

Relationship between health-related quality of life, perceived family support and unmet health needs in adult patients with multimorbidity attending primary care in Portugal: a multicentre cross-sectional study

“…Despite its multiple chronic health problems, the study’s sample reported high family support. Family dysfunction was present at a quite lower proportion than in previous reports [52–54]. This inconsistency may be due to the fact that in previous studies the age of the sample was limited to the geriatric population whereas in this study the age group was 18+ years old.…”

“…Prior studies have noted the relationship between family APGAR scores and the presence of chronic illness [51, 52]. Despite its multiple chronic health problems, the study’s sample reported high family support.…”

Relationship between Families Perception of Health and Support in the Care of Vulnerable Children

“…ADHD is significant problems with attention and inhibitory control that cause attention deficits, hyperactivity, or impulsiveness with academic difficulties as are problems in relationship with family members [3]. TS/KS, a chromosome structure is altered and govern physical and medical characteristics, such as susceptibility to lymphedema, osteoporosis and fractures, structural malformations of the kidney, autoimmune thyroiditis, diabetes mellitus, inflammatory bowel disease [4][5][6], or higher risks for scoliosis, lordosis, and kyphosis [7].…”

Preliminary Process of Developing Multiple Program for Promoting Family Health with a Vulnerable Children

“…The vulnerable situations have been found to exhibit relatively enduring health behavior, health values, family support, and health risk perceptions of families that can be developed and performed [7,8]; and situations of disability/worse health problem can compromise the independence and functional capacity of the vulnerable children thus making them dependent on caregivers, and inducing functional impairment in family, social, and academic settings that was similar in these groups of children and caused problems regarding families' health issues and general dysfunctional family support [9][10][11][12][13]. These untreated health problems may lead to major complications or complex limitations in activity and participation family time [3,[14][15][16][17].…”

“…However, empirical evidence to guide health professional collaborate with families to provide family health promotion intervention. Especially, disturbances in family function were related to a high risk of family depression [7,9,13].…”