Please respond to the following post.

Please respond to the following post.

Please respond to the following post with a long paragraph with your opinion, add citations and references.

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The definition of family is best described as family of choice (Green, 2018). Family of choice means “people chosen by an individual to care, love, and trust rather than the family of origin” (Green, 2018). Clearly this is a very broad definition which includes the many nontraditional family types that exist today. A traditional family is described as “parents and offspring with the same ancestry living together” (Green, 2018). In past years, this was the majority of families and the societal norm. It is now important to include non-traditional families in the definition of what is considered a family unit or structure. The reason is that non-traditional families are rapidly increasing and becoming as prevalent as traditional ones. This includes single parent households, blended families, same gender parents, and grandparents raising grandchildren to start with. To stay relevant and knowledgeable, a nurse must be familiar with the many different family types.

Family systems theory can help us understand modern families. This is done by studying how the family interacts as a whole unit (Green, 2018). Then, each individual is assessed separately (Green, 2018). Each individual interacts with the other family members in their own way, which affects the family as a whole (Green, 2018). By looking at individual interactions, we can then make sense of the family system as a whole. Individuals are even described as subsystems, meaning they are affected by and affect the entire family system, but are still independent in some ways (Green, 2018). This can be applied to traditional and non-traditional families. A person does not have to be genetically related to another to depend on and be affected by one another in a family system.

Green, Sue. (2018). Understanding Families in Health Promotion. In Health promotion: Health & wellness across the continuum.(Chapter 4) Retrieved from https://lc.gcumedia.com/nrs429vn/health-promotion-health-and-wellness-across-the-continuum/v1.1/