Discussion

SOC313 Family Document Throughout this class, we will meet two families, the Maldonado’s and the Olson’s. The two families are considered extended family via Sarah and Joe Miller. We will learn about their relationships, work environments, and the psychosocial effects related to health challenges faced by each family. You will use this document for the discussions and written assignments. We begin with the Maldonado family. Manny and Donna Maldonado have been married for 42 years. Mann y is age 65 and Donna is 63. Sarah, Mike and Becky are the children of Manny and Donna Maldonado. Sarah is the eldest daughter, followed by her brother, Mike, and her sister, Becky.  Manny is Hispanic American and owns a 20,000 -acre p roduce farm that has been in his family for three generations . Although Manny speaks and understands English, he prefers to speak Spanish. This creates a language barrier between Manny and other family members who do not speak Spanish. Donna is fluent in Spanish, having le arned the language from Manny and his family.  Donna works on the farm with her husband. She has long suffered from mood swings, which is mostly frustrating to Manny. He says it is “brujeria,” meaning her moods are caused by witchcraft and “mal d ojo” or “evil eye.” He believes someone put a spell on Donna. When this is believed to be the case, the person will visit a Curandero (healer) who will perform a healing ritual. o Sarah works as a nurse, and recently took Family Leave of Medical Absence (FMLA) d ue to her children’s recent issues. o Joe is the President of Illusion Technologies . Joe’s parents are John and Ella Miller. More details about Joe are shar ed in the Olson family section below.  Lucy, age 20, has a history of severe substance use disord er, along with having been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. In the past two years, Lucy has had four different jobs. She is unable to hold a job long -term. She now works on her grandparent’s produce farm.  Josh, age 17, has been sneaking away with frie nds, smoking marijuana and skipping school.  Evan, age 10, was recently diagnosed with leukemia; however, he has not yet started treatments. Eva n’s doctors have recommended chemotherapy, radiation, and a bone marrow transplant. Sarah and Joe intend to f ollow this treatment plan. o Mike Maldonado is age 36. He currently works for a state University as a tenured faculty of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences . Mike was recently diagnosed with HIV. o Dan was Mike’s husband. He recently passed away at the age of 38 due to an AIDS -related illness. They were married for 10 years. Mike and Dan did not have any children . o Becky is age 33. She is divorced and working on the family produce farm as well as attending a local college at night to complete he r bachelor’s degree in Child Psychology. She has one child, Abe.  Abe is age 12. He is a good student, but his behavior has changed recently, showing anger and defiance towards both of his parents and several teachers at school. His mother, Becky, has b een treating Abe’s behavioral changes with diet and alternative medicines. Next, we will meet the Olson family. Frederic Olson was married to Mary Olson. Mary passed away 10 years ago at the age of 77 . Frederic is age 87. Ella is the only child of Frederic and Mary Olson.  Fredric has pronounced symptoms from Parkinson’s disease. He has tremors and balance problems, along with muscle stiffness and gait (manor of walking) changes. He struggles to begin any movement. Howev er, once he is moving, he cannot stop easily. His gait has changed to smaller steps and shuffling.  As he progresses through the stages of the disease, Frederic needs increasing assistance with his activities of daily living (ADLs), which entail s bathing , dressing, food preparation, eating, taking medications, et cetera. He recently moved to an Assisted Living community and only leaves the facility for medical appointments. The family visits Grandpa Frederic on an alternating schedule at his new home ev ery week. The Assisted Living community has regularly scheduled social events in which Grandpa Frederic actively participates. o Ella is married to John Miller. Ella and John are both 70 years old. John and Manny Maldonado are best friends . Ella and Manny grew up together on their neighboring farms. Ella and John recently sold their 10,000 -acre farm to the Maldonado family since the two farms were adjacent to each other. o Ella has been trying to heal herself from breast cancer using a va riety of natural means. She grew up on a farm and was accustomed to using home remedies. Therefore, Ella is not willing to utilize Western medicine practices. o While the alternative health care methods kept Ella in remission for a few years, recently sh e learned the cancer has returned. In addition , the cancer has metastasized to her lungs and bones. Ella has chosen to forego Western medical treatment options such as chemotherapy, radiation, and pharmacological breast cancer treatment medications. She has requested to live out her last days at home. Ella has agreed to be admitted to Hospice home care, with John as her primary caregiver. Ella and John are seeking quality palliative end of life care. o John, Ella’s husband, is of Native American origin. He is well educated and uses Western medicine, but relies heavily on Native American methods , such as meditation and banish ing bad spirits from their home. John speaks fluent Spanish, having learned the language as a child . o John is an attorney for the Maldonado produce farm and his son’s company, Illusion Technologies. o John and Ella’s children are Sam, age 50, Lila, age 45, and Joe, age 43.  Sam is divorced and has no children. He works as a foreman on the Maldonado produce farm. He is an alcoholic a nd has been diagnosed with severe substance use disorder due to his alcohol addiction. His alcohol use is affecting his position as the foreman. Over the past few months, he has experienced emotional out bursts, missed work, and started arguments with th e workers, third -party wholesalers , and Al Goldberg (Olson family) . Sam has been upset that his parents sold the family farm to the Maldonado family instead of passing it down to him.  Lila , age 47, is married to Al Goldberg . She is a Social Worker fo r the state. Her job is very stressful as her caseload includes at -risk children. There is a great deal of documentation required; therefore, she works many 10 to 12 hour days. Lila is overweight and has Type II diabetes. She has not controlled her weig ht or diabetes well. Rec ently, her doctor changed her medication. She is now taking daily insulin injections to help manage her diabetes.  Al, age 47, Lila’s husband, is the general manager of the Maldonado family produce farm. Al had first option for buying the Olson family farm. He opted out of purchasing the farm and agreed with the sale to the Maldonado family. He has no known health issues; however, due to an early childhood trauma, he is afraid of hospitals and funeral homes.  Alisha is Lila and Al’s only child . She is 20 years old and is currently attending college full time on a nursing scholarship. The college campus is an hour away from her parent’s home. She lives on campus in the dorms, does not work at this time, and has no known he alth problems.  Joe, who is Sarah (from the Maldonado family ) Miller’s husband, is the President of Illusion Technologies, a rapidly growing company with 50 employees. He has a patent pending on two security -based software programs that could be worth mill ions. He and his father are in negotiations to purchase land to build a state -of-the -art office building.  Sarah, Joe’s wife, is a nurse and recently took a Family Medical Leave of Absence (FMLA) due to the health and behavioral problems with her children . Details about Joe and Sara’s children are shared in the Maldonado family section. The family members share a long history of friendship and love of farming. They have shared many life events, such as holidays, births, and deaths. Their families have be en intertwined for generations through the raising of the children and grandchildren. For the most part, the families get along well. However, even though they share some of the same cultural traditions and backgrounds, they do clash from time to time. For instance, some of the Olson family members are not in full agreement with Ella’s use of home remedies and alternative treatments for her breast cancer. However, the Maldonado family understands and supports her choices. Further, Ella is encouraging S arah Miller and Mike Maldonado to pursue Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) to treat Evan’s leukemia and Mike’s HIV . The members of both families are dealing with very busy sch edules and major health challenges .