Abstract
This article describes the theoretically based Family Focused Health Risk Assessment (FFHRA), which can be used to systematically identify behavior patterns in individuals and populations, identify stages of change for health risk behaviors, target interventions based on those stages, and increase positive change in patients' behavior patterns, ultimately improving the health of individual patients and the general population.
FIGURE
In an era when health care providers are required to record thorough patient histories and perform physical examinations in less time, creative methods to complete these assessments need to be tried and tested. At the Health Education & Promotion Center of the Tripler Army Medical Center in Honolulu, Hawaii, the development and refinement of a Family Focused Health Risk Assessment (FFHRA) has been instrumental in assessing the health risks and "readiness to change" status for a high volume of patients. These assessments of risk and readiness to change are crucial for determining optimal interventions to accelerate and maintain risk behavior modification.
The FFHRA contains a family risk genogram, a patient risk assessment, and an assessment of readiness to change health risk behaviors. This descriptive article will review the literature on family genograms and examine the importance of a health care provider's assessment of family health risk patterns, the individual patient's health risk patterns, and the stages one will encounter when changing risky behaviors. Finally, this article includes a description of FFHRA and recommends, areas for research and clinical practice.