| Course | INHE 1003 Introduction to Psychology |
|---|---|
| Week | Week 8 |
| Paper type | Applied brief |
| Length | About 560 words, 5 pages |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Walden University |
| Program | BS in Integrative Health |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for INHE 1003 Week 8
Caring for a Parent and Missing Her Own Appointments: An Applied Brief Using Lazarus and Folkman's Appraisal and Coping Model to Explain Why a Composite Caregiver's Coping Was Aimed at Her Parent's Needs and Left Her Own Health Unattended, With Two Practical Changes
Student Name
Walden University
INHE 1003: Introduction to Psychology
Instructor Name
Month Day, Year
Caring for a Parent and Missing Her Own Appointments: An Applied Brief Using Lazarus and Folkman's Appraisal and Coping Model to Explain Why a Composite Caregiver's Coping Was Aimed at Her Parent's Needs and Left Her Own Health Unattended, With Two Practical Changes
The Situation
A composite adult in her mid-forties has been caring for her mother since her mother came home from the hospital after a stroke three weeks ago. She works part time, drives her mother to therapy twice a week, manages her medications and gets roughly five hours of sleep a night. In the past two weeks she has missed two of her own scheduled visits, a follow-up for her blood pressure and a physical therapy session for her knee.
The Model
Lazarus and Folkman (1984) proposed that stress depends on how a person appraises a situation. Primary appraisal asks what is at stake: harm already done, a threat of harm to come or a challenge that could bring gain. Secondary appraisal weighs the options for responding and the resources at hand. Coping, in their account, falls into two broad families: problem-focused efforts aimed at altering the situation itself, and emotion-focused efforts aimed at easing the distress it brings. Folkman and Moskowitz (2004), reviewing the research that followed, treat coping as whatever people think and do to handle demands they judge stressful, and note that its effects depend on how well the coping fits the situation.
Applying the Model
Her primary appraisal of her mother's situation is threat: her mother could fall, miss a medication or have another stroke. Her secondary appraisal is that she can manage it, but only by putting her time and attention there. Her coping is largely problem-focused and aimed at her mother's needs: scheduling, driving, organizing pills. That coping is effective for her mother.
The missed visits follow from the same appraisal. Her own health problems, a blood pressure check and a sore knee, do not register as threats in comparison, so she does not cope with them at all. They fall outside the appraisal. Her lack of sleep may also lower her sense of having resources, which makes adding her own appointments feel impossible. Pinquart and Sörensen (2003), in a meta-analysis, found that caregivers of older adults reported more stress and depression and somewhat poorer physical health than noncaregivers, which makes her missed care a concern rather than a minor lapse.
Two Practical Changes
First, change the appraisal of her own health. A brief conversation with her own clinician, framed around the fact that her mother depends on her staying well, could help her see her blood pressure follow-up as part of protecting her mother. This works with her existing appraisal rather than against it.
Second, add resources so her secondary appraisal changes. Respite help for two afternoons a week, through her mother's insurance or a community program, or a sibling or friend who covers one therapy drive, would free time for her own appointments. Scheduling her own visits on days her mother has therapy nearby could also reduce the burden.
What the Model Leaves Out
The model focuses on the individual's appraisals. It says less about the practical limits of her situation, such as whether respite services exist where she lives or whether she can afford them. A full plan would need to address those limits directly, not only her way of seeing the situation.
References
Folkman, S., & Moskowitz, J. T. (2004). Coping: Pitfalls and promise. Annual Review of Psychology, 55, 745-774. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.55.090902.141456
Lazarus, R. S., & Folkman, S. (1984). Stress, appraisal, and coping. Springer Publishing Company.
Pinquart, M., & Sörensen, S. (2003). Differences between caregivers and noncaregivers in psychological health and physical health: A meta-analysis. Psychology and Aging, 18(2), 250-267. https://doi.org/10.1037/0882-7974.18.2.250
INHE 1003 Week 8 instructions, in plain terms
Week 8 asks for an applied brief of about two pages that uses one model to explain a health situation and propose changes. Put a short heading on each block. Describe the situation in one paragraph. Explain the model in one paragraph, with its source. Apply the model to the situation, showing how its parts explain what is happening. Propose two practical changes that follow from the model. Close with what the model leaves out. Cite the model's source, a review or study of it and one source on the situation. Keep the language plain enough for a reader outside psychology, and keep each block to its job.
How this INHE 1003 Week 8 example is built
The caregiver brief's situation block describes three weeks of care, part-time work, short sleep and two missed appointments. The model block covers the two appraisals and the two families of coping, citing Lazarus and Folkman and Folkman and Moskowitz. The application block reads her appraisal of her mother's situation as threat, her coping as problem-focused on her mother and her own health as outside the appraisal, citing Pinquart and Sörensen on caregiver strain. Two changes follow: reframing her own care as protecting her mother, and adding respite resources. A final block notes that the model says little about practical limits such as cost. Each block carries a heading, so a reader can find the model or the changes quickly.
Reading the INHE 1003 Week 8 rubric
Readers look hardest at the application, checking that the model's specific parts, appraisals and coping types, are used to explain the specific behavior, here the missed visits. Accurate description of the model earns credit. Proposed changes should follow from the analysis, ideally working with the person's appraisals rather than against them. Naming what the model leaves out shows critical understanding. Plain language and clear headings matter. Briefs that describe the model without applying it, propose changes unrelated to the analysis, or ignore the model's limits fall into the middle range. Plain headings and two clearly separated changes help a reader outside psychology use the brief. Naming the person responsible for each change makes a brief stronger still.
INHE 1003 Week 8 help from the desk
Describe the situation in concrete terms, with times and behaviors. Then write down the model's parts and ask, for each, what it says about the situation. Pay attention to what the person is not doing, since the model may explain that too. Choose changes that fit how the person already sees things. Ask what the model cannot explain, such as money or services, and say so. Keep each block short and headed. Test each change by asking whether it fits the way the person already sees the situation. Tutors can check how you have applied the model, and the caregiver brief above uses one heading per block.
Get a INHE 1003 Week 8 example written to your instructions
Share the brief's page limit, the stress model your course uses, the prompt and the rubric. A two-page application built on them follows in 24 to 48 hours, and there is no fee on a first sample. The caregiver is a composite, invented for the example rather than drawn from anyone's household.
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INHE 1003 Week 8 questions, answered
Where can I find a free INHE 1003 Week 8 sample paper?
The caregiver applied brief is reproduced above in full.
Which model does the INHE 1003 Week 8 sample use?
The appraisal and coping model from Lazarus and Folkman.
Why does she miss her own appointments?
Her coping is aimed at her mother's needs, and her own health falls outside her appraisal of threat.
What are the two changes?
Reframing her own care as protecting her mother, and adding respite help.
What does the model leave out?
Practical limits such as cost and whether services exist.