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The Impact of Family Structure on Health

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The Impact of Family Structure on Health

Jessica Pryce

Walden University

The Impact of Family Structure on Health

Renshaw (2005) notes that in 2004 50% of the families in the US were “intact”, which can be defined as a household containing both parents in a loving relationship. With half of US families “broken”, a substantial amount of supports that must be in place to ensure the sustainability of the household, as there is a drastic shift in the family dynamic. Single family households that have been impacted by divorce face several challenges. There is a sudden reduction in income, as the family that once was supported by two incomes now has one parent serving as the primary caregiver. Coplin (2004) noted that divorced parents are less involved with their children’s academic careers, and generally provide less supervision over their children. A sudden reduction in income and less attention can have significant impacts on the health of the familial unit. In a one income household the custodial parent may no longer have the discretionary income to afford the best health care, or the attention span to catch minor health situations before they manifest into major problems. Cohen et al (2010) notes that resilience research can provide improved outcomes for families by sufficiently identifying gaps in services needed to promote sustainability in the family structure. Identifying health disparities that result from single parent households, such as poverty and abuse, is a vital step in implementing programs that would be most beneficial for the community it seeks to serve. Resilience research uses community mapping to identify programs that exist in the community are assets to its population. These programs may be able to reduce risk factors in the community it serves and positively impact the health of the community as a whole.

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