Essay Sample on Assessing Patient Health: Diagnosis, History, & More

Introduction

Assessing the health condition of a patient is the first process that a Physician conducts before any treatment can take place. The assessment can be carried out through the diagnosis and use of assessment tools, and the patient's health history should be taken into account. When the history of a patient is known, it becomes easier to get to the root of the problem. It is essential to enquire about the previous condition that may be related to the current situation, as this helps in knowing the patient health issues and risks. In my case, I take the situation of a child of 9 years old who is underweight. To understand the problem with the child, several questions need to be answered, such as the history of the child and health issues from the past. In this discussion, I will look at what is required to help assess weight health-related problems, questions to assist in getting the history of the child where parents and the caregiver's sensitivities will be put into consideration as well as the strategies for the parents and caregivers.

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Assessing Weight-Related Health Issues

Underweight doesn't just come from nowhere; certain factors are known to contribute to the condition. There must be health issues that are likely to result in such situations. The health issues then add to the patient's body becoming underweight. Some of the factors that will result in somebody being underweight, for instance, maybe poor diet; this will impact the growth and body development negatively. As a result, the body will not be able to have the required immune to fight diseases. Lack of immunity, on the other hand, leads to increased infections and a high risk of diseases. Other impacts likely to be brought about by underweight may include impaired thinking and poor concentration (Juma, Enumah, Wheatley, Rafiq, Shekalaghe, Ali, A & Abdulla, 2016). Factors such as parent's health status need to be considered. For example, if the parents are underweight as well, then this may mean that they may have problems putting food on the table due to their social, economic status. There could also be genetic conditions or diseases that may affect the child's health systems, making them underweight. Such health issues are likely to affect the child digestive process and endocrine. Another factor could be health issues that may be affecting the child mentally or problems related to traumatic conditions that affect the child leading to the underweight state (Inge, Courcoulas, Jenkins, Michalsky, Helmrath, Brandt, & Horlick, 2016).

Specific Questions About the Child That Will Collect More Information

Questions are essential to the physicians to help supplement the information that may be obtained from the assessment tools and diagnostic tests. Some of the question that the patient need to be asked are like describing their typical diets, for instance, asking patients how many meals they take in a day may be of help as the physician will have a better understanding of the situation leading to the underweight condition. Another question that would serve to be of importance is a question on the Childs health background; are there genetic disorders that are found within the family, or are there problems that seem to be hereditary? This will help physicists in making better decisions. Finally, there is a need to ask a question like previous health conditions of the child could the child have suffered previously from diseases that are likely to lead to reduced appetites or even affected the person digestion system or eating behaviors. Getting these answers will help get a better understanding of the child's health status (Trigwell, Watson, Murphy, Stratton & Cable, 2014).

Strategies Employed to Encourage the Parents to Be Proactive About Their Child’s Health and Weight.

Maintaining good health is very important for healthy living when one is healthy; one can carry out their duties and deliver their best. Therefore, there is a need to ensure strategies are applied that will help ensure the weight of children is at acceptable levels. For that case, the physician should encourage healthy eating habits that the parent or the caretaker gives to their children. The children should be well looked at, and parents should be encouraged to increase plenty of vegetables to the children's diets. This will ensure that they grow healthy and that their body weights are within the healthy levels. A physicist should discuss healthy nutrition with the parents. Besides, there should be the creation of partnership through education where there is advocating for healthy eating proper nutrition and feeding practices (Talking About Weight with Youth and Families, 2019). Developing healthy eating habits will lead to minimizing instances of having children who are underweight or overweight. Another strategy is parents should make it a habit of taking their children for a medical checkup should they find that the child is experiencing unhealthy weight that may be as a result of health issues.

References

Inge, T. H., Courcoulas, A. P., Jenkins, T. M., Michalsky, M. P., Helmrath, M. A., Brandt, M. L., ... & Horlick, M. (2016). Weight loss and health status three years after bariatric surgery in adolescents. New England Journal of Medicine, 374(2), 113-123. DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa1506699

Juma, O. A., Emunah, Z. O., Wheatley, H., Rafiq, M. Y., Shekalaghe, S., Ali, A., ... & Abdulla, S. (2016). Prevalence and assessment of malnutrition among children attending the Reproductive and Child Health clinic at Bagamoyo District Hospital, Tanzania. BMC public health, 16(1), 1094. DOI: 10.1186/s12889-016-3751-0

Talking About Weight With Youth and Families. (2019). Retrieved 11 December 2019, from https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/759936_3

Trigwell, J., Watson, P. M., Murphy, R. C., Stratton, G., & Cable, N. T. (2014). Ethnic differences in parental attitudes and beliefs about being overweight in childhood. Health Education Journal, 73(2), 179-191. DOI: 10.1177/0017896912471035