Things You Need to Know About Healthy Family Functioning

                                                                               

     

The family is the basic unit of structure and function in every society. Individuals are nurtured in a family setting, within the family; individuals also develop identity and form values and beliefs that will become the basis of their actions and decisions later on in life. 

Social skills as well as lessons about health and wellness all start with the family.They are also an individual's primary means of support during personal upheavals and major setbacks in the life of an individual. 

Family health plays a large role in a person's state of physical and mental health. There  are  5 functions of the family that promote the health of both the individual and the family which are as follows: i) management, ii) boundary setting, iii) communication, iv) education and support and v) socialization.

Adults assume the responsibility of allocating resources, setting rules, as well as planning for the future. The role of adults and children in the family are: 

1. Determined by boundary setting. 

2. Meaningful communication as a mark of healthy families. Precise, honest and meaningful communication is crucial to family health. 

3. A physically, emotionally and socially healthy life is developed through education.  

4. Manifestation of love and affection is the hallmark of cohesive family support among its members. 

5. Socialization is the family's function of transmitting culture and acceptable behaviours and norms that an individual needs to function and integrate well into the world.

When the family is confronted with setbacks, troubles and distress whether in the form of illness, job loss of the breadwinner, strained relationships or death, the family needs to rely on each other, in order to cope and handle the situation effectively. 

When the members of a family are unable to cope and handle crises in the family; one or even all members of the family will experience the following:

 
    i.  Emotional withdrawal, ii. Physical distancing or iii.  Physiologic manifestations in the form of illness.

Most cases of addiction and alienation are the results of a family's lack of time and communication with each other. The busy and hectic schedules brought about by the demands of school and career of children and their parents, respectively, have made family communication almost non-existent. This has caused children to turn to peers, food or other substances for comfort and coping.

Parents, then, must initiate moves to promote family health. Communication lines can be opened through spending mealtimes together and doing physical activities and games together as a family. This does not only promote family bonds and well-being but each member's individual physical health as well.

And this kind of communication starts when children are still young enough to consider everything parents say as the law. When started early enough, spending mealtimes together only becomes a matter of habit. The same also goes for setting strict television and computer hours and making exercise a fun part of weekend times together.

Finally, for healthy family functioning, all the five functions of the family that include: management, boundary setting, communication, education and support, and socialization must be fulfilled.  

When adults in the family manage the finances and plan the future well, when boundaries are set, when communication is encouraged, when education and support are nurtured and when socialization is effective, a family becomes truly fit and healthy.