When it comes diseases or illness, the impact of the family can be very difficul

When it comes diseases or illness, the impact of the family can be very difficult. One of the biggest impact on the family I feel is the financial burden.This can include treatment costs, transport to appointments, the cost of hiring a carer, and adapting their home environment (Golics et al., 2013). Patients without insurance, unsure of their coverage or not employed often worry about how much care will cost them. Even those families with insurance worry about having to pay for treatment and cost. Financial hardship impacts parents’ ability to pay for essentials and to care for and invest in resources for their children. Additionally, it puts families at greater risk of poor mental health, family violence and child maltreatment (Bryson et al., 2021). Low income families often feel the strains of having to pay for services and can cause them stress. The difficulties involved in accessing funding are greater in low income families, who often receive minimal support and face greater problems with social functioning and relationships (Golics et al., 2013). Social workers can help to provide these patients with resources that can use to better allocate finance and support system to help cope with the patient’s diagnosis.
It may be helpful for patients if they have their support system included in their discharge planning as well as having members of the multidiscplinary meet with the family to help discuss options. In other countries, counselling for finance is provided to assist these families. Financial counsellors can help clients overcome barriers to the services and supports available by helping them understand their legal rights and entitlements, negotiate and manage debt, avoid bankruptcy, prevent litigation and, when necessary, referring to other services such as community legal aid, housing support or personal (eg, mental health), family (eg, violence) and gambling supports. Counsellors can help provide these families with resources that they can use to improve their finances. Including support people in the plan of care can help break barriers and fragementation in patient care. According to The Institute for Patient-Centred and Family-Centred Care patient-centred and family-centred care is grounded in mutually beneficial partnerships among patients, families and healthcare professionals (HCPs) in the planning, delivery and evaluation of care (Joren et al., 2023). Creating an individualize care plan with family and patient focus allows all parties to participate as well as give them the opportunity to take control of their situation. Among adults, ICPs have shown to promote patients capability to self-manage their conditions and improve health status indicators (Joren et al., 2023). The overall objective is to help patients be self-sufficient in disease manage and ensuring they have the support that they need.
One of the factors that has the most impact on family members in my opinion is financial because when expenses are higher than what is budgeted, it leads families to increase stress. This will affect the family relationship and create at the same time an emotional impact. This is due to the direct cost that leads to medical care, the cost of medications, co-payments for medical visits or sometimes when insurance does not cover, they need to pay for consultations and treatments in full. Moreover, when family members have to accompany their elderly relatives to doctor visits, he/she is prone to lose hours of work, reducing family income. Or, on the contrary, families with patients with chronic diseases are sometimes forced to increase their working hours in order to cover medical expenses. Despite the fact that some patients have state benefits, these are often not enough to cover the additional expenses that can be taken into account at home. For example,” a dementia patient’s families spend from $3630 to $17700 depending on the severity of the dementia” (Golic,C.J).
It is important to include the support persons in the plan of care because families have too much stress due to the financial situations that affect them leading the family and the patient to withdraw from social life. Including supporting people in the care plan would help to improve family communication and understand the disease and treatment, seeking ways to ensure the well-being of the family and the patient. It would also help improve the quality of life of patients and their families by providing them with information and resources to manage the disease, promoting patient self-care. This can help them better manage chronic disease and avoid complications by reducing medical and hospital visits.