ABSTRACT
In this chapter, however, the author underscores that the environmental forces are powerful, pervasive, and have potentially negative as well as positive effects not only on families but on their ability to carry out health-related tasks. She emphasize that the family is, at the same time, a part of the broader systems that make up its social environment. The author shows that the social environment of the family includes other mesosystems such as school and work contexts, the exosystem or social structures and institutions, and the macrosystem or overarching cultural patterns, values, and ideologies. She explores areas in which health policy and programs impinge on or interact with the health maintenance and caretaking roles of the family. The author demonstrates that the health-related functions, tasks, and problems of the family are not solely a family responsibility, but rather, that the success or failure that families experience in carrying out these is inextricably related to factors in their social environment.
