The Grape Family The movie utilized for this assignment was What’s Eating Gilbert Grape. This movie explored the life of the Grape family consisting of Gilbert, Ellen, Arnie, Bonnie and Amy. (Hallström, Blomquist, Matalon, Ohlsson, Teper 1993). The movie reveals the struggles that the family face while raising Arnie who had a chronic mental illness (Hallström et al., 1993). This paper will discuss the priority concerns and corresponding interventions that are pertinent for the Grape family based on thorough use of the Calgary family assessment model. The focus of this papers assessment on the family will be on the functional aspect; however the structural and developmental aspects have been assessed. The Effect of Chronic Mental Illness on the Grape Family Throughout the movie the psychological, social and physical impact that Arnie’s chronic mental illness had on his family are illustrated. The aspects I will discuss are the social and psychological as they had the most impact on the family. However the physical impact of fatigue due to increased burden on Gilbert and Amy was assessed. The main psychological impacts were self-stigma, increased stress, and depression. Self-stigma occurs when the family members except mental illness stereotypes to be true. When self-stigma occurs caregivers tend to feel embarrassed about the person’s mental illness, feel as though they are looked down on because a family member has a mental illness, and feel the need to be hide it in order to have people continue to treat the family the same (Girma,Dehning, Mueller, Tesfaye, Froeschl, Moller-Leimkuhler , 2014). In the movie the little sister Ellen and primary caregiver Gilbert are the most effected by the self-stigma. The most predominant ... ... middle of paper ... ...concerns appropriate interventions were assigned to each one. For the priority concern of the family’s ability to cope and their risk of depression commendation and interventative questioning were the chosen interventions. For the priority concern of Gilberts care giver burnout and risk for compassion fatigue commendation and encouraging respite were chosen. The Grape family is a fitting example of the complex difficulties a family can have when they are faced with the difficulty of dealing with a chronic illness and tragedy. This paper demonstrates the importance of assessing and creating interventions for a family in a way which includes every member of the family not only the ones with complications. Raising the question should patients who are suffering from chronic illnesses better off to be treated as an individual or as a member of a functional family unit?
This assignment allows for the application of community and public health nursing concepts learned in theory and clinical by implementing them through an assigned virtual family. These learned elements are directed toward the Grape family from the movie “What’s Eating Gilbert Grape?”. The public health nurse (PHN) aims to recognize the various stressors in the Grape family and provide relevant resources that can prevent further stress and negative interference on the family unit and community. This is completed by conducting a thorough family assessment from which a plan with interventions is created. An analysis of the interventions along with the outcomes will be provided. A genogram and ecomap are significant tools used to address the genetic
In addition to the previously mentioned family members there are two persons who are no longer present within the familial home setting. Larry Grape the only sibling to have left the familial home is currently working as a flight attendant and is 32 years of age. Bonnie Grape’s former spouse, Albert Grape, biological father to all children in the Grape family unit is deceased. Mr. Grape had committed suicide some time ago by hanging himself in the basement of the home that the Grapes continue to reside in. The circumstances surrounding Mr. Grape’s death are important factors to consider when assessing the Grape family, as the psychological effects of this event are still being grappled with by the family Unit.
From reading and reflecting her personal experience and journey with her sister, Pamela, I acquired a personal outlook of the deteriorating effects of mental illness as a whole, discovering how one individual’s symptoms could significantly impact others such as family and friends. From this new perspective mental health counseling provides a dominate field within not only individuals who may suffer mental illness such as Pamela, but also serve as a breaking point for family and friends who also travel through the illness, such as Carolyn.
What's Eating Gilbert Grape portrays a family dealing with the trials, misfortunes, and also great times of having a member with a disability. The Grape family consists of Gilbert, Ellen, Amy, Mama (Mrs.Grape), and of course, Arnie. They live in an isolated town of Endora in a house that seems to be in shambles since their father died, causing their mother’s depression and becoming morbidly obese. Considering that there is only one parent left, their family structure single parenting and trends in a laissez-faire family pattern.
...the patient’s family more within the assessment after obtaining the patients consent, but my main aim in this case was to concentrate the assessment, solely on the patient, with little information from the family/loved ones. This is a vital skill to remember as patients family/loved ones can often feel unimportant and distant toward nursing staff, and no one knows the patient better than they do, and can tell you vital information. Therefore involvement of family/ carers or loved ones is sometimes crucial to patient’s further treatment and outcomes.
In the 1993 film “What’s Eating Gilbert Grape”, a young boy (Gilbert) has to care for his younger brother (Arnie) who suffers from mental retardation, while also caring for their obese mother. Arnie is very dependent on his brother who bathes him and keeps an eye on him at all times. Arnie’s symptoms are very clear throughout the film including communication, health, safety, self-care, and home living (Grohol, 2013). Taking care of a younger sibling on your own has to be hard enough without them having a mental disorder. Their mother who is obese has not left the house in years because of their father’s suicide by hanging himself. The whole town mocks their mother and it makes their life that much more difficult. Gilbert and his two sisters slave away their youth constantly cooking, cleaning, and watching over Arnie for their mother because she cannot because of her disability also. Caring for someone with a disability can be difficult but love and support is what they need the most and that is why I chose this movie and family to discuss. Although Gilbert sometimes gets distracted from watching and taking care of Arnie by things going on in his own life, he never complains about his role as a care giver for his younger brother with mental retardation.
Although medical social workers have always played a role in helping loved ones adjust to significant illness in a family member and in securing needed resources to pay for medical care (Furstenberg & Olson, 1984), a new role for mental health professionals in the care of those afflicted with disease has emerged. D...
Also, the whole family needs to come to term with the health condition, make change in priorities and schedule, and keep the family. For example, it can be much more stressful for a young or a newly married couple because they may have more experience to overcome life's difficulties. As a result, as with individual maturation, family development can be delayed or even revert to a previous level of functioning (Hockenberry, p 762.) Therefore, health care providers need to apply family development theory while planning care for a child and family with chronic health condition. Indeed, family centered care should be a part of that intervention. Parents and family members have huge and comprehensive caregiving responsibilities for their chronically ill child at home or at hospital. Moreover, the main goal taking care of chronic ill child is to “minimize the progression of the disease and maximize the child’s physical, cognitive, psychological potential” (Hockenberry, p 763). Therefore, it is essential to family being part of the child care to give highest quality of care. On the other hand, we are as a part of the health care provider need to give attention to all
Treating the patient and family as one, can have improved outcomes, decrease hospital stays, increased patient satisfaction, and improved reimbursements for the hospital. Developing a relationship with not only the patient, but family as well, can pay off in the long run by providing better communication, better quality of care, and trust. The patient and family can be strong advocates for improved performance improvement efforts. Including family in the treatment of the patient treats the “whole” patient through their hospitalization. Involving the family can enhance the patients care.
... the context of chronic illness: a family health promoting process. Journal of Nursing and Healthcare of Chronis Illness 3, (3), 283-92.
To begin with, a “Parent and Child Knowledge and Attitudes Toward Mental Illness: A Pilot Study.” is an article about a case study between parents and children who suffer from a mental illness. Each person interprets what a mental illness is in their own way. This article deals with how parents and children
Most individual’s emotional health directly affects their ability to maintain a high quality of life. Gilbert Grape experienced this rippling effect in the movie, What’s Eating Gilbert Grape? Gilbert is a smart capable man, but encumbered by his emotional baggage. Instead of searching out for support and solace from his loved ones, he withdrew himself emotionally and proceeded to try to handle his competing demands alone. Gilbert’s reaction to his emotional conflict created a rift between him and his loved ones. Without trust between Gilbert and his family, the lack of support depleted his emotional health. His constant brooding affected his intellectual and physical state, because he was short on sleep,
Arnie’s use of constant distraction of fiddling his fingers and twirling, repetition of words, sensitivity to smells and tastes, and throwing tantrums to which he incessantly hits himself. Even though the movie mostly displays the disability of one with autism, there are many other underlining physiological significances. Arnies disability puts a tremendous amount of stress onto his family. As quoted from Gilbert, “some days you want him to live, some days you don’t”. They are constantly worried for his safety and well beings. That is why his older brother Gilbert constantly watches over him. Gilbert believes he has to protect him from the community. He worries that people may not know how to tolerate with his neurological differences. Even though it’s good to have Gilbert watch over Arnie so persistently, it creates a problem for Gilbert. With no fatherly figure, or actually, no parental figure at all for that matter doesn't allow Gilbert to experience the life of an ordinary teenager to which he lacks a sense of individualization and differentiation. As for the mother, she is exceedingly depressed and over weight and refuses to leave the house due to the passing of her husband. She becomes almost a burden to the family, especially in Gilbert’s eyes. He feels ashamed and embarrassed by her. But what truly questions me is to why the movie didn't declare the reason to why the husband took his own
In health care, there are many different approaches throughout the field of nursing. When considering the field of family nursing, there are four different approaches to caring for patients. This paper will discuss the different approaches along with a scenario that covers that approach. The approaches that will be discussed include family as a context, family as a client, family as a system, and family as a component to society. Each of these scenarios are approach differently within the field of nursing.
Congestive heart failure (CHF) is a debilitating chronic illness that requires a lot of daily management. As a result, it impacts not only the patient, but the patient’s family. The effects of heart failure can leave patients fighting to retain a quality of life and trying to prevent further complications. As the patient struggles to live with a chronic illness, the family is taxed with balancing the patient’s needs with the needs of the entire family (Kaakinen, Coehlo, Steele, Tabacco, & Harmon Hanson, 2015). This task is especially challenging in heart failure due to the debilitating effects it has on the ill family member. In this paper I will discuss several ways the family nurse can provide intervention to guide and support the patient