IMPACT OF ILLNESS ON PATIENT AND FAMILY

DEFINITION OF ILLNESS:
Illness is highly personal state (subjective feeling) of being unhealthy or sick.

DEFINITION OF PATIENT:
Patient is an recipient of health care services who is often ill or injured and in need of treatment from a health care provider.

IMPACT OF ILLNESS ON PATIENT:        

1. Impact on behavior: People react differently to depending on the illness
   • Nature of illness:( Short term/ long term illness): In short term Illness client may adapt to changes in health and regain the normal behavior, where as in long term Illness, the client exhibits alterations in the behavior as they may not accommodate with the lifestyle and self care changes like dietary, exercise, stress reduction, medication usage, alterations in libido, alteration in physical abilities such as after an amputation, changes in sensory abilities or sensitivity etc.
   • Clients attitude towards the illness: Some show behavior changes like anger, shock, denial, anxiety and withdrawal
   • The clients support system: Clients behavior changes based on the support system they have like care givers and significant others.
2. Impact on Emotions: Physical illness leads to thoughts or feelings about the vulnerability of disease, the unpredictability of life and persons tend to react negatively to the signs of even a minor illness. They feel resentful, angry, disappointed, or frustrated.
3. Impact on body image:
   • Rapid weight loss of weight gain
   • Limited or lost mobility
   • Altered or lost body functions
   • Scarring or loss of body parts
   • Changes in skin color
   • Hair loss
4. Impact on self-concept:
   • Illness itself has a negative impact on the person as they experience pain, discomfort, changes in appearance and loss of control over their own bodies
   • The poor self-concept associated with low self-esteem in patients with chronic illness may hinder them from escaping their disease focused world, making it difficult to immerse themselves in social interactions and maintain relationships.
5. Impact on Self Esteem: Living with a chronic medical condition is often accompanied by low self-esteem, a diminished sense of personal worth, and lower self-efficacy, a diminished sense of one's ability. This can significantly affect health-related quality of life and well being, with low self-esteem and self-efficacy contributing to poor coping, helplessness, a decrease in positive health behaviors, and increased risk of co-morbidities. Thus, it becomes important to promote self-esteem and empowerment over one's condition.
6. Impact on lifestyle: The illness affects the lifestyle practices of the individual that Includes
   • Dietary/Nutritional Practices
   • Habitual Practices
   • Activity Changes
   • Role Changes
   • Therapeutic Practices
7. Impact on Personality: When a patient is suffering from long-term chronic Illness, their personality may drastically change as a result many patients blame themselves for a decrease in motivation and an increase in anxiety. Long term Illness has a profound effect on a person’s quality of life. Aside from the physical suffering that chronic illness causes, there are also psychological and personality effects. Negative attitudes and behaviors can become very pronounced and lead to change in the outlook on life.

FAMILY:
• Family is a social group consisting of parent and children who live together as an unit and maintain interrelationships with each other.

IMPACT OF ILLNESS ON FAMILY

1. Impact on Family Roles:
   Families have a role such as bread winner, professional, child, sibling or a parent. When illness occurs role reversal occurs where the sick person activities, roles and responsibilities will be changed and the family must adapt to their changes in roles, which can cause stress and adjustment problems with in the family.
2. Impact on Family Dynamics:
   Family dynamics is a process in which the family functions, makes decisions, gives support to individual members, and copes with everyday changes and challenges. In case of illness family dynamics changes which results in changes and in relationship within the family.
3. Impact on socio Economic Status of the family:
   Health care is a huge cost in families and it can cause a major burden in the family especially in patients with long term illness. And this can also affect the career development in families which can again lead to stress and adaptation problems.