Assessment of non-traditional family units and implications for nursing care

Abstract

Non-traditional family units are gaining ground nowadays and research, therefore, on their structural and functional aspects is relevant. This qualitative case study, conducted in Bele?m, PA, Brazil, sought to explore some families with a non-traditional configuration, assessing them through the Calgary Family Assessment Model. The data was collected from November 2017 to March 2018 via home visits with preferably all the components present, using a semi-structured interview, according to the Calgary Family Assessment Model branching diagram, and GenoPro software. The classifications were: single-member, female single-parent with children, female homosexual, traditional with added member and female single-parent with an adopted child, indicating complex relationships among the components of the unit and with the extended family. The Calgary Family Assessment Model demonstrated their impact on family nursing in terms of the typification of non-traditional families, care, expression of feelings, solution of problems and evolution of family arrangements.