Using the Family Health Model (Denham, 2003), this study aimed to understand the ways family support processes and routines influence dietary patterns of individuals with type 2 diabetes. Interviews were conducted with family dyads, a person with type 2 diabetes (n ϭ 13) and a family support member (n ϭ 13). Themes emerged within three domains: (a) confronting dietary routines, (b) changing dietary routines, and (c) living with new dietary routines. Findings indicated that (a) support members intentionally provide assistance to persons with type 2 diabetes (T2DM), (b) cultural food preferences, family traditions, and intergenerational dietary patterns influence behavior changes, (c) gender influences the kinds of family support offered, and (d) awareness about dietary routines on special days appeared greater than on typical days. T2DM should be considered a family rather than an individual disease with needs for diabetes education to include family support members.

Rituals and routines are widely discussed in the literature, but clear distinctions between them are seldom made. Rituals are most often described in terms of celebrations, traditions, religious observances, and symbolic events. Routines have been operationalized as behaviors closely linked with daily or regular activities pertinent to health. Family households are the primary places where families construct, deconstruct, and reconstruct rituals and routines. Support exists that links rituals and routines and health and illness. Both concepts involve multiple family members, are unique to family households, and seem to have a potential role in understandings about health potentials, illness risks, and chronic disease. Although some researchers have studied relationships between rituals or routines and health, nurses have completed few focused studies. The purpose of this literature review is to focus on therapeutic benefits of rituals and routines, stimulate conversation about their utility in nursing practice, and identify areas for research.

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Although rituals are considered in the anthropological and sociological literature, less attention is given to associated biophysical and health perspectives. Three ethnographic studies were conducted to identify the ways family health was defined and practiced. Findings indicated that routines were an important aspect of family health. Families described routines linked to family health and discussed how they evolved, ways they were modified over time, and how families recreated them when stress and change were encountered. Findings indicated that routines provide a structural perspective for assessments, interventions, and outcome evaluations related to health and useful to nursing practice. This article explains some of what is known about family routines, describes the author's findings, and suggests implications for nursing.