MPH503, Infertility and Public Health, Mod 5 Case Assignment - Essay Example

MPH 503 Infertility and Public Health Mod 5 Case Assignment Infertility and Public Health The old wives tales, there are so many. Blackbirds in the yard mean rain and going on vacation will help one become pregnant. These kinds of stories persist from generation to generation and grandma and sometimes mom just do not understand what all the hoopla is about. Yet, according to Schneider and Forthofer (2005), one in six couples experience some kind of infertility and even with treatment, only 1/2 become pregnant.

This seems to be much more than a wives tale. This paper will discuss what to do around grandma and mom when this kind of knowledge is being used and suggestions are being made. Issues with infertility are painful psychologically as well as physically. There is always the self defining issue of "what is wrong with me?" The reduction in self esteem is very difficult to deal with and when family who are supposed to be support dont understand what is wrong but what the couple is going through, it becomes even more difficult (Schneider, 2005).

Further, much of the treatments are painful and sometimes embarrassing so there is much stress related to the treatments for both of members of this couple. There are many things that can be done for support for this couple. Trying to get them involved in a support group, however, is probably one of the most important as no one can really understand their issues as well as someone else with the same type issues. This allows them to talk about them with a group of people that feel the same way and will not tell them to go on vacation and everything will be better.

Focused counseling is shown to help when it is couple targeted as shown in a study completed by Glover, McLillan, and Weaver (2008). There is some controversy in the literature about the type of support that is given to a couple undergoing in vitro fertilization. According to Knoll, Kuenti, and Bauer, (2008) some kinds of support may turn out to be more detrimental than helpful. Women seem to benefit from a different kind of help than their spouses. Women seems to do best with emotional support while men do best with instrumental support.

Neither kind of support in the literature seems to make as big a difference in stress levels as groups involvement as in support groups. One of the recommended approaches is to help the couple look at and find new meaning for their life goals. This is sometimes best done in discussion with people that have been through the same issues as they have. Those couples that have been in trial for 5 years or more and are still unsuccessful need this kind of help more than any other. At some point they must stop and there are many reasons for that including physical, psychological, and financial.

They will only be able to come to a healthy halt if they have been able to find a different meaning for their life goals. (Peterson, Puritano, & Christensen, 2007). Based on the research that has been discussed, it appears that the best recommendation for support for this couple is to join a support group that meets at a convenient time for them, see a counselor to help them through their personnel issues and to begin to help them see their life goals somewhat differently. They should discuss their difficulties with their families but only briefly not involving material that the family is unable to understand.

In conclusion, this is a highly stressful time for these couples in all ways possible. Research is somewhat limited in what the best support systems are and certainly they will differ with each couple. However, in the case of our couple, there has to be a secondary support system as the family is only increasing their support .ReferencesGlover, L, McLillan, A., Weaver SM. (2008). What does fertility problem mean to couples? Journal of Reproductive and infant psychology 27(4). 401-18.Knoll, N.

, Kuenti, R, Bauer, K. Affect and enacted support in couples undergoing in-vitro fertilization: when providing is better than receiving. Social Science and Medicine. 64(9). 1789-1801.Peterson, BD, Puritano, M, & Christiansen, U. (2007). The longitudinal impact of partner coping in couples following 5 years of unsuccessful fertility treatments. Journal of Reproductive Therapy. 24(7).Schneider A, and Forthofer, A. (2005). Associations of psychosocial factors with the stress of infertility treatment.

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