Family Process, Chronic Illness, and Death

Family intervention after stroke: does counseling or education help?

“…Effective problem solving may have an impact on family integration by improving the handling of stressful situations and in dealing with the rehabilitation process and by facilitating the lifestyle changes often associated with stroke. Reiss 28 warns that stronger families may tend to coalesce around illness, resulting in "paradoxical vulnerability" and eventual poor outcome.…”

“…31 Preoccupation with the disabled family member to the exclusion of the needs of other family members interferes with the autonomy required for optimal adjustment. 28 Gaining information about home care may optimize involvement of the caregiver by promoting compliance and subsequently better family function.…”

Diabetes Self-Management in the Migrant Latino Population

“…Longitudinal studies exploring White families living with renal disease suggest that family beliefs and structures have a significant effect on disease management and patient survival ( Reiss, Gonzalez, & Kramer, 1986 ). Linkages between characteristics of the family and changes in disease management over time suggest family context merits attention in long-term diabetes management ( Chesla et al, 2003 ).…”

Medical family therapy: an emerging arena for family therapy

“…With theory and research that began with mental illness and alcoholism, these scholars have shown how families become organized around health problems. Reiss (1981) and Reiss et al (1986) have described how the family's paradigm for 'coordination' is an important factor in its ability to handle serious illness and relationships with the health care system. Coordination refers to the family's level of readiness to experience itself as a single unit, especially in times of stress.…”