Conclusions about Family Health Routines
Family’s narrative dialogues are potentially useful methods for ascertaining health beliefs and family practices, but the technique is costly in time and effort and requires highly skilled practitioners. However, additional research focused on family health routines could more clearly identify routine categories, the dimensions that characterize them, and interventions most predictive of potentiating the household production of health. The development of psychometrically sound instruments normed on various family groups would be useful for assessment, intervention, and evaluation of outcomes.
Future research and practice should: (a) identify within and between family variations in the ways routines are created, deconstructed, reconstructed, and maintained; (b) determine patterns of intergenerational transmission of routines related to enduring concerns and chronic illnesses; (c) clarify pertinent routine aspects related to health promotion, disease prevention, injury and risk reduction, health maintenance, and health recovery; (d) identify interventions for unique health behaviors applicable to health and illness needs; and (e) compare and contrast routine dose rigidity, pattern regularity, and member participatory factors with desired outcomes. Cultural variations within groups and family populations may assist measurement of within group similarities and differences.
Finally, greater attention needs to be focused on relationships between community context and family health routines.
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