Keeping the Family Healthy(pp. 126–130)

Objectives

•List some characteristics of healthy families.

•Describe four skills families need to stay healthy.

•Identify places where families can go for help with their problems.

Healthy families share certain characteristics: caring, commitment, respect, appreciation, empathy, communication, and cooperation. People in healthy families care about each other and are committed to staying together. They make other family members feel important. Empathy (EM puh thee) is the ability to understand another person’s thoughts and feelings. In healthy families, family members can tell each other what they honestly think and feel. They cooperateby dividing responsibilities fairly.

Healthy families know how to resolve conflicts, express emotions, make decisions, and manage their time. Conflict situations often involve struggles forpower. These struggles are sometimes between parents and children and sometimes between siblings. A sibling is a brother or sister. Good communicationskills are key to conflict resolution. When you are trying to resolve a conflict, it isimportant to express your emotions in constructive ways. Families often usedecision-making skills to resolve conflicts. Families can improve their relationships by spending their time together wisely.

Even when a family is healthy, there may be times when the family has aproblem that seems overwhelming. Some sources of help for families are family agencies, family therapists, and support groups. Some family agenciesfocus on the protection of children, or help families meet basic needs, such asfood and housing. Family agencies may offer counseling or refer families to atherapist. Family therapists work with family members to help them find betterways to solve problems. A support group is a network of people who help eachother cope with a particular problem. Support groups can help people deal withillness, death, drug abuse, and relationship problems.

Name______Class______Date______

Keeping the Family Healthy(pp. 126–130)

Healthy Families

1.List characteristics of healthy families.

a.______

b.______

c.______

d.______

Useful Skills for Families

2.Complete the table about useful family skills.

Skills for Keeping Families Healthy
Skill / Description
Resolving conflicts / a.______
______
Expressing emotions / b.______
______
Making decisions / c.______
______
Managing time / d.______
______

Name______Class______Date______

Section 5-3: Note Taking Guide (continued)

Getting Help for the Family

3.Complete the graphic organizer about sources of help for families.