Who lives at home?

[Oku]

Why do professionals (mainly GPs) always ask who lives at home and their ages? Just wondering why it’s relevant?

Stress, needing to know if you have dependents to look after and any help with it?

No appointment is never related to being stressed. And appointment wasnt for me it was for my child but just wondering why they need to know number of children at home and all ages and who else lives there

They don’t always ask, but there are many reasons they will ask. If they think you are at risk, or putting someone else at risk, or if they are trying to guage whether or not you need a care package, even if temporarily. Can you add context?

Wanted a referral to speech and language therapy for my child but it’s been asked at various appointments never related to me

When they ask how many units of alcohol you have a week 😂

Just for statistics, I guess.

One of the things GPs screen for is domestic abuse. Potentially it's a quick assessment to see how you respond to that question?

Domestic abuse when calling to ask for a SaLT referral?

no, just domestic abuse generally. (I might be wrong; I just have half a recollection of talking to a friend about this who has suffered DA; she went to GP about something else entirely, but it came out in GP appointment ... GP later told her that it's something she always screens for in all female patients or anyone she has any worries about ... don't know if it's just her or general good practice)

Social history is a part of a good medical assessment the GP would have been lax not yo ask this. How many people in the home is relevant in a speech and language referral. Are there older children talking to the child, are they living with grandparents and expected to be quiet? And so on every child is different but it builds the picture of the problem.

This makes a lot of sense. If a child is struggling with communication it’s actually really important to establish the type of people they communicate with on a daily basis.

Literally so they know who lives at home. 😂 This is surely incredibly obvious. It’s all health professionals. It’s a standard intake question. It’s so they know what adults you have at home to support you (also if you live with a partner, that may flag an additional domestic violence screening question) and what caring responsibilities you may have (if you have minor children, older relatives, disabled siblings, etc). It may also flag up any housing needs (if you are a lodger or live in a hostel) or extra support needs (if you live with no one, but say need GA).

But my phone call wasnt about any of that

This was just today’s call, it happens any time I speak to a GP last one was for a ENT referral

As said it’s mentioned at pretty much every appointment I go to so this wasnt just related to speech

There’s lots of reasons why they ask (get asked a lot when doing referrals for my ASD child)

reasons may include:

not putting their foot in it with family make up. E.g assuming it’s mum and dad when it might be mum and mum etc

support network for you and whether there might be considerations for future appointments, like little siblings having to come too

Check for domestic violence, vulnerable situations at home so they can signpost support.

some conditions (like those supported with SALT) can be whole family interventions)

some conditions (like ASD) are genetic and knowing if there are younger siblings can help with future referrals.

plus many others.

Then ask them?

Short answers is that we ask usually in case there's dependants and somehow through the conversation it comes up that we need to safeguard said dependants.

So how would they know the answer to any of that based on who lives at home?

OP, why are you so worked up about being asked this? Because if you respond this defensively at appointments people are going to wonder if there’s something dodgy going on.

Just a few reasons it’s important for HCPs to know who lives with their patient:

• to give a general overview of any risks or support needs. I.e. if you say you live alone & are going for a major operation they’ll know you need home health support, or if you are a sole parent to 14 children there may be support or benefits they can connect you with that make life easier, etc.

• so that if the patient dies there’s a record on file of whether they have any dependants who need checking on

• with SaLT it‘s helpful to know how much opportunity for verbal interaction a child has (and knowing who lives at home can lead to more specific questions like which languages are spoken at home, is anyone at home hearing impaired, etc)

It’s a question they need to ask everyone as part of their intake. It is not always going to give them information that is crucial to the care they are providing you at that particular appointment.

So they ask everyone at every appointment?

I’m one of those professionals who always ask- who lives at home. It’s easier than saying, do you have any children, do you have a partner. I like them to tell me in their own words how they describe their family.
In my line of work it’s important for me to know if there’s other children at home, do any of them have additional needs ( speech and language, behavioural, mental health etc). I want to know if there’s additional potential stressors that can be impacting on development also.

So many reasons. Are you divorced so if they prescribe medication will it be taken when at other parents home, if your dc is ill can you cope with looking after them or do you have other dc at home, is there a reason you or dc may struggle. By asking that question will it open a door to other issues. Are you in need of other support. I think it is fine.

I have always been asked this question at A&E or at a hospital appointment with my DD but I don’t think I’ve been asked it at the GPs.

I presumed this is a standard question that they ask everyone.

I've rarely ever been asked this by a medical professional other than a mental health one, so I'm surprised at your experience.