Family Care/Caring Theory (FC2T) is "a middle-range family nursing theory, proposed by family nursing researcher/practitioner Naohiro Hohashi in 2013, which explains nursing and family phenomena in which a relationship is created between the nursing professional and the family, focusing on self-actualization of the nursing professional together with self-actualization of other individuals and the process of establishing a family care/caring relationship."
The Model Diagram of Family Care/Caring Theory provides a three-dimensional visualization and structure for the phenomena that occur between nursing professionals and families. A three-dimensional logical space formed by two horizontal axes (structural distance and functional distance), and one vertical axis (temporal distance), is set up within the Model Diagram of Concentric Sphere Family Environment Theory as the place for family care/caring, which creates an environment for the formation of reciprocal concern. A logical space is a conceptual space that embodies a way of looking at things. This three-dimensional space is also referred to as a three-dimensional time-space, as it treats time and space on the same level. In this environment for the formation of reciprocal concern, family care is the providing of family interventions for the target family that is the subject of interest. Family caring, then, is the support that the family can utilize to realize a life that is true to itself.
A model diagram requires a synchronic perspective that describes the relationship between nursing professionals and families at a certain point in time, and a diachronic perspective that describes families according to changes and transformations over time. The model diagram provides explanations from two perspectives: synchronic, which explains horizontally along the time axis, and diachronic, which explains vertically along the time axis.
When viewed on a diachronic two-dimensional plane with structural and functional distance as coordinate axes, a circular interaction is repeated in which nursing professionals are "doing care/caring" for families, and conversely, nursing professionals are "care/caring being done" by families. When viewed on this two-dimensional plane, family care/caring features a concentric structure, and through this circular interaction, the structural and functional distances between nursing professionals and families gradually become closer over time, and an appropriate distance is maintained as mutual trust deepens. An appropriate distance is one at which reciprocal interests can be formed and an alternating relationship can be built between nursing professionals and families; if the distance is overly proximate or distant, family care/caring cannot be achieved. The appropriate distance is adjusted by the feedback effect of family care/caring.
Furthermore, when viewed in a diachronic three-dimensional space-time formed by adding temporal distance, the concentric structure of family care/caring can be viewed three dimensionally, with family care/caring indicated as a spiral structure. In the time axis where circular transactions between nursing professionals and families are repeated, the structural and functional distances between the nursing professionals and families gradually approach each other, and the structural and functional distances are maintained at an appropriate level. This allows self-actualization of other individuals (self-actualization of the family as an organization) to be achieved from the perspective of the nursing professional, which then influences the nursing professional who provides family care/caring, leading to the self-actualization of the nursing professional. Through this process, both other-actualization and self-actualization are realized, and the family care/caring relationship between the target family and the nursing professional is reinforced and established. Family support consists of family care/caring, family healing, and family spirituality support. By integrating these, family well-being can be achieved.
Naohiro Hohashi, PhD, RN, PHN, FAAN