Health Status Of Family Members Research Articles

Family Empowerment as Nursing Intervention for Families with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: A Literature Review

Background: This literature review is motivated by the empirical phenomenon that illustrates the increasing number of Type 2 Diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients, which has an impact on family caregivers. The chronic condition of T2DM requires long-term care and monitoring to maintain blood glucose levels within normal limits. Family caregivers play a crucial role in assisting family members with T2DM by enhancing their roles and functions through family empowerment. Purpose: This literature review aimed to theoretically analyze the importance of family empowerment as a nursing intervention in improving the health status of family members with T2DM. Methods: The research method used in this study is a literature review, which includes an analysis of 9 articles obtained from three databases: ProQuest, Science Direct, and Google Scholar. The search keywords used for article retrieval included "family empowerment or caregiver empowerment," "diabetes mellitus," and "nursing intervention," using "AND" and "OR" as Boolean operators. Results: The literature review results show that family empowerment interventions for individuals with T2DM can be carried out by increasing knowledge, providing skills training, and enhancing family support during the care process. The success indicators for family empowerment interventions include increased self-efficacy, self-concept, self-care, and self-control for individuals with T2DM. Conclusion: The findings of this literature review demonstrate that family empowerment as a nursing intervention can yield positive outcomes for patients. Therefore, it should be considered as a reference for primary healthcare nurses to provide intervention not only to the clients but also to their families or caregivers.

Unsupervised clustering analysis of comprehensive health status and its influencing factors on women of childbearing age: a cross-sectional study from a province in central China

BackgroundMost previous studies on women of childbearing age have focused on reproductive health and fertility intentions, and evidence regarding the comprehensive health status of women of childbearing age is limited. This study aimed to comprehensively examine the health status of women of childbearing age through a multi-method and multi-indicator evaluation, analyze the factors that influence their overall health, and provide sound recommendations for the improvement and promotion of healthy behaviors.MethodsData on women of childbearing age living in Shanxi Province were collected between September 2021 and January 2022 through online and offline surveys. The k-means algorithm was used to assess health-related patterns in women, and multivariate nonconditional logistic regression was used to assess the influencing factors of women’s overall health.ResultsIn total, 1,258 of 2,925 (43%) participants were classified as having a good health status in all five domains of the three health dimensions: quality of life, mental health, and illness. Multivariate logistic regression showed that education level, gynecological examination status, health status of family members, access to medical treatment, age, cooking preferences, diet, social support, hand washing habits, attitude toward breast cancer prevention, and awareness of reproductive health were significantly associated with different health patterns.ConclusionsThe comprehensive health status of women of childbearing age in Shanxi Province is generally good; however, a large proportion of women with deficiencies in some dimensions remains. Since lifestyle greatly impacts women’s health, health education on lifestyle and health-related issues should be strengthened.

Health effects of long-term care insurance on spouses of disabled people: a quasi-experimental study

BackgroundIt is still uncertain whether and how formal long-term care (LTC) systems affect the health status of family members. This paper examines the health effects of long-term care insurance (LTCI) on spouses of disabled people in China.MethodsThe data is from China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Survey (CHARLS), a longitudinal survey of a nationally representative sample of Chinese residents aged 45 or older and their spouses, and China City Statistical Yearbook. Exploiting the regional variation in the implementation of LTCI in the first round of pilot cities in China, a difference-in-difference (DID) strategy is applied to identify the causal effects of LTCI on the health status of spouses of disabled people. We carefully identify the causal effects by controlling for city-level covariates, testing common trends between the treatment and control groups, combining propensity score matching (PSM) with DID, selecting the second round of pilot cities as the control group, controlling for city fixed effects (FE) instead of individual FE, and evaluating selection bias from omitted observable and unobservable factors.ResultsThe introduction of LTCI in China reduces the number of painful body parts and the self-reported health score significantly, indicating that spouses of disabled people get physical health benefits from LTCI coverage. However, the impact of LTCI on the depression index remains ambiguous and needs to be analyzed further. LTCI improves the physical health status of spouses of disabled individuals mainly through the time reallocation channel, while the impact of the consumption promotion channel has not been verified. Furthermore, the beneficial effects of LTCI on physical health are stronger for spouse caregivers and spouses with lower-level education and lower household income.ConclusionThese findings demonstrate that LTCI not only improves the health status of family caregivers by reducing their caregiving burden but also has beneficial health effects on non-caregiver family members. Policy designs of LTCI should emphasize the orientation of home and community-based care services (HCBS), which can not only satisfy the care preferences of disabled individuals, reduce the care burden on family caregivers, promote the health of all family members, but also prevent a large number of disabled individuals from choosing high-cost institutional care and reduce the financial burden of the LTCI Fund.

Mother’s knowledge for environmental risks and self-awareness for the presence of pollutants in her living area in West and Central Anatolia: a cross-sectional survey

BackgroundEnvironmental risk awareness is a key concept to raise awareness and plan future programs for environmental protection. A cross-sectional household survey aimed to find out the presence of environmental hazards next to living area and the mother’s knowledge levels about environmental risk factors with their related factors according to district development ranking, and Western and Central Anatolian regions with sampling from rural and urban residence.MethodThe study was designed with household sampling weighted according to population density in 2008. Data on the demography and health status, dwelling characteristics of the residents are also collected in 2009. In addition, open-ended questions "What does environmental risk/hazard mean?" and "Which environmental risks/hazards are present in your environment?" were asked. The data collected from the survey were analyzed using multivariate binary logistic regression. ResultsThe sample included 3489 mothers living either in urban or rural areas. Of the mothers, 19.3% did not know what an environmental risk is and 75.7% stated that there was at least one environmental pollutant in their environment. The most commonly perceived risk factor was air pollution (23.0%), which was reported to be present in their living areas by 12.4%. Regions, residence, settlement features of the house, and health status of family members were associated with the perception of environmental risk at a statistically significant level.ConclusionThe neighborhood conditions and health status of family associated with the mother’s awareness for environmental risk factors. Communication and cooperation between local governments, health institutions, non-governmental organizations and other stakeholders should be strengthened to increase risk awareness.

Psychosocial Distress among Family Members of COVID-19 Patients Admitted to Hospital and Isolation Facilities in the Philippines: A Prospective Cohort Study.

This study determined the psychosocial impact of COVID-19 on families of adult COVID-19 patients in isolation facilities in Metro Manila, Philippines. This prospective cohort study was conducted in COVID-19 healthcare facilities. Data collection was undertaken 2 weeks and 8 weeks after discharge. Logistic regression was performed to determine the socioeconomic and clinical factors influencing anxiety, depression, and family function. Based on HADS-P, 43.2% of the participants had anxiety symptoms, and 16.2% had depression symptoms 2 weeks after the discharge of their relative with COVID-19 infection. The prevalence of anxiety and depression significantly decreased to 24.3% and 5.4%, respectively, 8 weeks after discharge. The percentage of participants with a perceived moderate family dysfunction was 9.5% in the 2nd week and 6.8% in the 8th week post discharge. Participants with perceived severe family dysfunction increased from none to 4.1%. The most inadequate family resources for the participants were economic, medical, and educational resources. Patient anxiety (p = 0.010) and perceived inadequate family resources (p = 0.032) were associated with anxiety symptoms among family members. Patient anxiety (p = 0.013) and low educational attainment (p = 0.002) were associated with anxiety symptoms among family members 8 weeks after discharge. On the other hand, patient depression (p = 0.013) was a factor related to depressive symptoms among family members 2 weeks after discharge. This study provided an in-depth understanding of the mental health status of family members caring for relatives with COVID-19 infection. This can be used to guide healthcare professionals caring for COVID-19 patients and their family members.

The Effects of Living Environment, Health Status of Family Members, and Migrant Elderly following Children's Attitude about Care on Grandchildren's Health Status in Weifang, China.

As urbanization is growing quickly in China, many migrant elderly following children (MEFC) migrate to big cities to care for their grandchildren (grandchildren of MEFC=GMEFC). This study aimed to explore the effects of the living environment, health statuses of family members, and MEFC’s attitude regarding the care of their children (children of MEFC=CMEFC) for their GMEFC on GMEFC’s health statuses in Weifang, China. Multistage cluster random sampling was used to select the participants, and 613 MEFC were included in total. Descriptive analysis, univariate analysis and binary logistic regression were used to investigate the association between the related variables and GMEFC’s health statuses. It was found that 74.9% of the GMEFC had excellent health statuses. The GMEFC who had siblings, the CMEFC with excellent health statuses, and the MEFC with excellent health statuses were more likely to have excellent health statuses. Moreover, the GMEFC who were female, elevators occasionally malfunctioned, the MEFC who were dissatisfied with the CMEFC’s time spent on caring, and the MEFC who did not understand or forgive the CMEFC’s limited time on caring were less likely to have GMEFC with excellent health statuses. The results indicated that a better living environment, better health statuses of family members, and a positive attitude of the MEFC regarding the care of CMEFC for GMEFC would result in a better health status of GMEFC.

Women’s literacy and children’s mortality rate among Southeast Asia countries 1991-2020: a cross-sectional study

Background: Women’s literacy is often associated with the health status of family members, especially children. Unfortunately, in some regions of Southeast Asia, the rates of women’s literacy (WL) are still very low, and in these areas, children’s mortality rates (CMR) are also very high. This study aims to identify the changes and correlation between women's literacy and children’s mortality rate among Southeast Asian Countries in the last 3 decades. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, we included 11 Southeast Asian countries; Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor Leste, and Vietnam. The WL and CMR were the independent and dependent variables respectively. The CMR was measured by mortality rates in infant (IMR), neonatal (NMR), and under-fives (UFMR). We collected data for all variables from the World Bank website, and used the data from 1991 to 2020 for analysis. Kruskal–Wallis and Pearson correlation test were performed to identify the significant difference between variables and its correlation respectively. Then, we conducted linear regression analysis to identify how the WL affected the CMR in 11 Southeast Asian countries from 1991 to 2020. Results: In the last 30 years period, we found that the CMR trends in Southeast Asian countries vary. Moreover, during the same period, WL and CMR were changed significantly. Across these 11 countries, the correlation between WL and IMR was the highest (R=0.805). However, only 65% of IMR can be explained by WL ​​(R2=0.65). Conclusion: This study found that women's literacy had a significant impact on CMR in Southeast Asian countries. However, improvement in multiple sectors including governance, economy, freedom, health system, education, and gender equality is required to help countries in this region achieve the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals target by 2030.

Association of women’s literacy and children’s mortality rate among countries in southeast Asia 2015-2019: a cross-sectional study

Background: Women’s literacy is often associated with the health status of family members, especially children. Unfortunately, in some regions of Southeast Asia, the rates of women’s literacy are still very low, and in these areas, children’s mortality rates are also very high. This study aims to identify the association of women's literacy and children’s mortality rates among countries in the Southeast Asian region from 2015 to 2019. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, children’s mortality rates were defined as mortality rates in newborns and under-fives. Besides women’s literacy (WL), we also assessed the Human Development Index (HDI), Freedom Status (FS), Government Effectiveness (GE), and the proportion of births assisted by skilled health staff (BASHS) as the independent variables in this study. First, we describe the profiles of WL as well as newborn and under-five mortality rates among 11 countries in Southeast Asia from 2015 to 2019, and then we assess the correlations. Results: Between 2015 to 2019, Myanmar, Lao, and Timor-Leste had the highest child mortality rates. In addition, these four countries were the countries with the lowest WL rates compared to other countries. Children’s mortality rates were significantly associated with WL, GE, HDI, and BASHS. Meanwhile, this study found that the FS of a country was not significantly associated with the children’s mortality rate of countries in the Southeast Asia region. Conclusion: This study found that there’s an indication that the better the WL rate, as well as the governance, the HDI, and maternity services in a country, the lower its children’s mortality rates. Therefore, improvement in multiple sectors such as governance, economy, health system, education, and gender equality is required to help countries in this region achieve the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals target by 2030.

Health Status of Family Members on Family Investment

This paper takes the data of 2017 China Family Finance survey data as a research sample, empirically analyzes the health status of family members on family investment behavior, and further analyzes the particularity of middle class families. The empirical results show that the worse the health of family members, the lower the participation in financial markets. Moreover, the heterogeneity analysis shows that the impact of health status on financial market participation is more influential on rural registered households. Further, this examination of middle class families found that health status affected their investment behavior.

The impact of confinement on school-aged children

Confinement is affecting the health of the entire society, although, to a greater extent with the little ones, causing them stress, fear, anxiety, worry, depression and irritability along with all the consequences that this entails. This has been caused by the health status of family members, friends or your own; conditions of confinement; school closings; loss of contact with peer groups; limitations for movement and recreational activities; teaching activities and restrictions on psychological interventions. This has affected children with physical, emotional and psychological effects. For this reason, it is pointed out that families should be aware of children to detect the symptoms of these disorders and prevent them from going to more.

The Impact of Addiction on Family Members Mental Health Status.

Effects of substance abuse frequently expand beyond the nuclear family. Extended family members can experience feelings of abandonment, anxiety, fear, anger, concern, embarrassment, or guilt. Thus, they may wish to ignore or cut ties with the person involved in substance abuse. The aim of this study was to compare the mental health status of families with and without substance abusers. This cross sectional study was conducted among 114 family members with substance abusers (case group) and 114 without substance abusers (control group) in Hamadan city of Iran, in a time period from October to December 2016. Data collection tools included demographic and SCL-90-R questionnaires. Data were analyzed by t- test using SPSS software version 16. The significance level was considered less than 0.05. The mean age of participants in the case and control groups was 33±4.7 and 35±5.2 years. There was a significant difference in the mean of subscales which included somatization, interpersonal sensitivity, depression, anxiety and phobia in families with and without substance abusers (p< 0.001). In other words, the mental health status of family members with a substance abuser was lower than in the control group. Overall, 29.4% of family members with substance abusers and 16% without substance abusers were suspected to have mental disorders. Substance abuse is a disorder that can impact families in countless ways. Therefore, it is recommended that more attention should be given to this group toward planning mental health programs. Also, families should be screened by health professionals in regard to psychological needs and improvement of their mental health conditions.

Underascertainment, underreporting, representativeness and timeliness of the Iranian communicable disease surveillance system for tuberculosis

ObjectivesA well-functioning disease surveillance system is essential for effective control of diseases. Therefore, conducting evaluation studies on the performance of disease surveillance systems is necessary. This study was conducted to evaluate the performance of the Iranian syndrome-based surveillance system for tuberculosis (TB) in rural areas of Fars, the third largest province located in southern Iran. Study designThis was an evaluation study. MethodsTwo independent sources of information (data from a population-based survey and data from the surveillance system) were used in this evaluation. A group of trained female nurses used a specially designed interview-administered questionnaire to obtain data on the health status of family members from mothers or other adult women in rural houses. Subsequently, the nurses obtained data from individuals who reported a history of TB during a specified period and defined whether the patients presented themselves to a rural or urban health centre or clinic. ResultsA total of 48,771 individuals participated in this study. Of 156 cases who reported a history of TB, 137 (87.82%) presented themselves to at least one medical care provider seeking diagnosis and treatment services. Of patients who visited a health or medical centre, only 18 (13.14%) were reported to the highest level of the surveillance system. Accordingly, the rates of underascertainment and underreporting of the Iranian surveillance system for TB were 12.18% and 86.86%, respectively. Moreover, underascertainment was significantly higher for men (19.40%) than for women (6.74%). The mean time between the date at which TB was noticed and the date of diagnosis was 56.24 days, which was longer for men (79.29 days) than for women (40.10 days). The highest and lowest levels of underreporting were observed for private general practitioners (100%) and the health centres run by the government (87%), respectively. ConclusionThe quality of the communicable disease surveillance system for TB in Iran is facing important challenges, including underascertainment, underreporting and timeliness, in addition to different types of bias. Informing the general population and health workforce about TB and the importance of timely diagnosis is a good approach to improve the performance of Iran's national communicable disease surveillance system.

Depression is associated with diabetes status of family members: NHANES (1999–2016)

BackgroundThe majority of the studies in this area focus on the psychological impact of having diabetic children or adolescents on parents, while a limited number of studies have investigated the effect of diabetes on the mental health status of family members in the general population. Thus, the aim of the current study is to explore the possible association between mental health disorders (depression, anxiety and panic) and diabetes status of family members among a national sample of adults in the United States. MethodsOur analysis included 1,787 and 25,574 participants in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 1999–2004 and 2005–2016, respectively. Diabetes status of family members was self-reported by the participants, and depression was assessed using the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI) and the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) in NHANES (1999–2004) and NHANES (2005–2016), respectively. ResultsWith NHANES (1999–2004) participants, logistic regression indicated a marginally significant association between depression and diabetes status of family members after multivariable adjustment (P = 0.07), and trend analysis suggested that participants who had more diabetic family members were at a higher risk of depression (Ptrend < 0.01). We further validated these results using data from NHANES (2005–2016), which indicated diabetes status of family members was associated with both clinically relevant depression (PHQ-9 ≥ 10) and clinically significant depression (PHQ-9 ≥ 15) (P < 0.01). LimitationsThe information about the mental health status of family members and the exact role of participants in caring for diabetic patients was inadequate. ConclusionsA positive association between depression and diabetes status of family members was observed in the general population, suggesting that psychological interventions targeting the family members of diabetic patients are worthy of attention.

Determinants of care efficiency in a group of Polish parents raising children with different developmental disorders: a cross-sectional study

Objectives: Care efficiency of family can be determined by many factors such as mental and physical health status of family members and their socioeconomic situation. Raising children with disabilities is a burdening and stressful situation for their caregivers. This article examines determinants of care efficiency in a group of Polish parents raising children with developmental disorders.Methods: The cross-sectional study was conducted in 9 Polish schools for disabled children located in Cracow. Questionnaire that included the Caregiver Burden Scale and the Scale Efficiency of Care was completed by 213 mothers and 30 fathers. During the data analysis parametric tests (e.g. ANOVA) and nonparametric tests (e.g. a Mann–Whitney U test, Kruskal–Wallis test) were used.Results: Parents’ care efficiency and burden of care were on an average level. Sociodemographic variables such as gender, age, place of residence, education and family structure were not related to the care efficiency. The relationship with housing and material conditions of the respondents was shown. The statistical analysis showed the relationship between the level of parents’ care efficiency and all subscales of Caregiver Burden Scale. Parents who demonstrated a higher level of care efficiency experienced lower level of burden in areas such as General Strain, Isolation, Disappointment, Emotional Involvement and Environment.Conclusions: Disability of a child reduces caring potential of a family. Parents experience more physical and mental fatigue, which aggravates their disappointment. It is important to make precise diagnosis of parents’ care problems and implement an individualized program to help a family.

Health risk factors in the family-members of chlamydiosis patients

To study the characteristics of health state in family-members of ENT-patients with identified Chlamydia infection. We have examined 245 members of 87 families of otorhinolaryngological patients with verified (44 families) and without (44 families) Chlamydia infection. Laboratory methods of the research included the identification of the following types: Chlamydia trachomatis and Chlamydophila pneumoniae. Chlamydia diagnostics involved both direct immune fluorescence and immune enzyme analyses as well as polymerase chain reaction. Health state in ENT-patient family-members has been evaluated by the complex method based on the special questionnaire for every family-member aimed at determining the health category, the calculation of health average coefficient for each family member followed by the determination of family identity with some definite health category. in the families of otorhinolaryngological patients with verified Chlamydia infection there have been revealed considerably more family-members with acute and chronic pathology of different organs and systems associated with functional disorders. The health status of family members of ENT patients with respiratory Chlamydia was significantly worse than in families of patients with negative laboratory results for Chlamydia, which was manifested by a much smaller number of healthy family members and a large number of people with risk factors for health.

Brief multifamily Psychoeducation for family members of patients with chronic major depression: a randomized controlled trial

BackgroundMajor depressive disorder (MDD) is a common and often chronic problem. Patients with chronic MDD often have negative impacts on the health of their families. Family psychoeducation is recognized as part of the optimal treatment for patients with psychotic disorder, and has been shown to reduce the rate of relapse in individuals with schizophrenia and to reduce the burden on their caregivers. Thus, we predict that family psychoeducation has the potential to reduce the burden on the caregivers of patients with chronic MDD. In the present study, we aimed to investigate the effects of brief multifamily psychoeducation (BMP) on the mental health status of family members of patients with chronic MDD.MethodsWe conducted a clinical trial consisting of 49 chronic MDD patients and their families. Each family was randomly assigned to either the BMP intervention group or the control group. The intervention group received four BMP sessions, once every two weeks for eight weeks. The control group received one counseling session administered by a nurse. All patients received standard treatment administered by physicians. The primary outcome measurement was the Kessler Screening Scale for Psychological Distress (K6) score of family members at 16- weeks after the first BMP session. Secondary outcomes were depressive symptoms of both family members and patients at multiple time points, as well as family functioning as evaluated by the patients. Intention-to-treat analyses were conducted.ResultsThere was no statistically significant effect of BMP on K6 scores at 16- weeks (mean difference 1.17, 95% confidence interval: − 0.63 to 2.98, P = 0.19). Exploratory analyses revealed that BMP reduced depressive symptoms in family members at 8- weeks (difference = − 3.37, 95%CI -6.32 to − 0.43, P = 0.02) and improved family functioning at multiple time points (Role; 8 W, difference = − 0.13, 95%CI -0.26 to − 0.00, P = 0.04, Affective Responsiveness; 8 W, difference = − 0.24, 95%CI -0.43 to − 0.05, P = 0.01, 32 W, difference = − 0.22, 95%CI -0.41 to − 0.03, P = 0.02, Behavior Control; 16 W, difference = − 0.17, 95%CI -0.34 to − 0.00, P = 0.04).ConclusionsFour BMP sessions did not significantly reduce the psychological distress of family members of patients with chronic MDD.Trial registrationClinical Trials. gov NCT01734291, retrospectively registered (Registration date: November 21, 2012).

Spillover Effects of Long-Term Disabilities on Close Family Members.

Care and support of people dealing with long-term disabilities involves the entire family. This paper evaluates the effect of living with a relative dealing with a long-term disability on the health status of all family members in the household. Using information from the Swiss household panel from the year 1999 to 2003 (n=18,030), a linear regression is implemented to compare the health status of family members cohabiting with individuals dealing with a long-term disability with the health status of individuals of similar characteristics in the general population. Additionally, a non-parametric graphical analysis estimates the smooth patterns of the results over time. Family members who cohabit with a person dealing with a long-term disability have a consistently reduced health status. The size of the impact depends on the sex and the role in the family. In general, women show the most negative effects. For children, the impact depends on the relationship with the disabled person. Recognizing the presence of health spillovers can help to design policies to better support families. Being the perceived health status a good indicator of the use of health services and mortality, the health system should focus on the entire family, and not only on the patient or the main caregiver.

Negative repercussions of caregiving burden: Poor psychological well-being and depression.

Objectives:To compare depression and psychological well-being between caregivers of schizophrenic patients and non-caregivers and to study the burden of caregiving as a relative risk for depression and psychological well-being.Methods:This cross sectional comparative study was conducted at International Islamic university Islamabad from January to September 2017. Fifty informal caregivers of schizophrenic patients from 19 to 55 years of age were included in the study. The control group consisted of age and socio-economic status matched healthy volunteers who did not have any psychological or medical patient at home needing care and assistance. For measurement of study variables i.e., burden of caregiving, depression and psychological well-being, instruments used were Zarit Burden Interview (ZBI), The Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale (WEMWBS) respectively.Results:Results were analyzed using MANOVA followed by One-Way ANOVA. Findings indicated that informal caregivers of schizophrenia have greater depression and poor psychological well-being in comparison to the non-caregiver controls. Association of caregiving burden with psychological well-being and depression was calculated using Chi Square test and relative risk.Conclusion:Caregiving adversely affects informal caregivers’ mental health and wellbeing. Informal caregiving is a burden for the caregivers; health status of family members involved in caregiving should be routinely assessed to enhance their health-related quality of life.

Dependency of Quality Education for Attaining the Health-related Sustainable Development Goals in Africa

Dependency of Quality Education for Attaining the Health-related Sustainable Development Goals in Africa

The Obesogenic Household: Factors Influencing Dietary Gatekeeper Satisfaction with Family Diet

ABSTRACTThe rise in obesity and its co‐morbidities has focused the attention of researchers on factors that influence the consumption of a healthy diet. Obesogenic (obesity‐promoting) environments are an important area of investigation and a significant opportunity for health interventions. In this research, we identify the home as just such an environment and argue that the dietary gatekeeper within the home has a significant influence on what a family eats and subsequently the health status of family members. We propose a model that relates dietary gatekeeper cognitions and food‐related capabilities to food acquisition and transformation practices and subsequent diet outcomes. An online survey was completed by 326 US and 323 Australian dietary gatekeepers to test the relationships in the model. Our results suggest improving dietary gatekeepers’ capabilities, including their cooking confidence and nutritional confidence, and their food acquisition and food transformation practices can have positive health benefits for gatekeepers and their families. Implications for health policymakers and food marketers are presented.