As healthcare continues to grow and evolve, stakeholders in healthcare have continued to advocate for holistic healthcare to provide better quality healthcare. Holistic healthcare is an approach that tackles healthcare provision in a multidirectional manner (Capponi, 2019). One of the ways to assist the healthcare industry in moving towards holistic care and overall improved care is the health-illness continuum. The concept, first presented by John W. Travis, represents a graphic presentation of an individual’s wellness and is very useful for nurses and other healthcare stakeholders in determining the state of health an individual is in (Capponi, 2019). The analysis of the examination of the health-illness continuum and its relation to health and human experience, how the understanding of the health-illness continuum enables me to promote value and dignity, a reflection on my overall state of health, and the resources available to me to assist me in attaining better wellness will be discussed in detail.
The Health-Illness Continuum and its Relation to Health and Human Experience
The health-illness continuum presents a unique way of determining health and wellness. For many, the state of being healthy is often defined as the absence of disease (Fex et al., 2011). I also held the same belief before learning about the health-illness continuum. However, the continuum presents a new perspective on health by introducing wellness. This new perspective is important when understanding health and human experience (Tomczyk et al., 2022).
One of the important aspects of this perspective as it relates to health and human experience is that wellness means much more than physical health (Capponi, 2019). For a person to be considered well, medical personnel must understand that the person needs to possess awareness, education, and growth. Healthcare professionals are mandated to provide care by attending to their awareness, education, and growth. This perspective means that nurses and other healthcare professionals have a bigger role in promoting healthcare. These stakeholders play a key role in promoting wellness by promoting the patients’ education, awareness, and general growth (Capponi, 2019).
Another perspective presented by the continuum in relation to patient care is the importance of proactive care in improving wellness. Many in the medical field often provide reactive care, where we treat the illness after it has emerged (Capponi, 2019). While this approach promotes healthcare and increases wellness, it does not help the person achieve peak wellness. At best, the person gets to +1 on the continuum, with the only awareness they have is that they have to take care of themselves better. The continuum teaches that it is important for the medical industry to pursue proactive care to promote awareness, education, and growth (Tomczyk et al., 2022). The healthcare industry can only achieve these tenets of the health-illness continuum if the healthcare sector is dedicated to providing proactive healthcare services, as these tenets are promoted well by proactive care.
How the Health-Illness Continuum Promotes Value and Dignity
The health-illness continuum has significantly impacted my approach to providing better healthcare. One of the areas that the continuum has impacted is the promotion of value and dignity (Fex et al., 2011). The continuum helped me to understand the value of education and awareness in promoting overall healthcare. As a healthcare provider, I have always believed in proactive care. However, I had limited my approach to the use of vaccination and promoting healthy behaviors. While my approach encompassed education and awareness, it failed to account for providing proper guidance on how to provide education and awareness to the population I serve appropriately. After learning about the continuum, I have constantly been researching ways to improve my approach to proactive care, particularly as it pertains to value and dignity (Fex et al., 2011). I have begun promoting value and dignity through using advocacy to promote proactive care. For example, I have become an advocate for non-intrusive procedures wherever possible. This helps to preserve the patient’s dignity while promoting the quality of healthcare that the organization gives to its clients.
Another way the health-illness continuum has assisted me is that it has given me a blueprint to follow that leads to human flourishing (Gazaway et al., 2019). The continuum has helped me establish a standard that determines what qualifies as human flourishing. Before I was aware of the standard, I had thought that human flourishing was the absence of illness. However, I have discovered that human flourishing is associated more with wellness than health (Gazaway et al., 2019). With this knowledge, I have sought to improve my approach to providing healthcare by promoting wellness.
Reflection on My Overall State of Health
I believe that my health is in a good state. My last check-up shows that I am a model of good health. I have no illnesses besides some back pain which is a product of my awkward sitting position. Other than that, I have great health. I also believe that I have attained wellness. As a result of my profession, I have access to a lot more information concerning than the average person. This means that I am educated and aware of how to improve my health, which places me closer to high-level wellness.
What prevents me from achieving peak wellness are my unhealthy habits. One of these habits is that my diet is terrible. I am a huge fan of fast food, and with the crazy life of a nurse, I doubt it will change over time (Alexander et al., 2021). This means I eat more calories than I should, which has heavily influenced my weight. Though I exercise from time to time, inconsistency has been my enemy, and I have failed to attain a healthy BMI. This is the only area in my life that I feel has hindered me from achieving wellness. I have begun working on improving my health by finding an exercise regimen that I can adhere to. I have also begun looking at healthy eating alternatives.
Resources Available to Help Improve my Wellness
One of the major resources that I have access to is my education. As a student, I have access to a lot of information which has helped me learn more about health and wellness. This has saved me time on research as I can easily identify the areas in my life that need improvement through introspection. Other resources that have helped me move towards wellness on the health-illness spectrum are my friends and family. I come from a family that is very close and very honest with one another. They are usually the first to identify when something is wrong with me, and I believe they will play a huge role in my pursuit of wellness on the continuum.
These two resources each play unique roles in my pursuit of wellness. My education gives me knowledge concerning health, which allows me to make decisions about my well-being. My friends and family provide a moral ground that helps me to make decisions that benefit me in the short and long term.
References
Alexander, E., Rutkow, L., Gudzune, K. A., Cohen, J. E., & McGinty, E. E. (2021). Trends in the healthiness of US fast food meals, 2008–2017. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 75(5), 775-781.
Capponi, N. (2019). Meaning and Use of the Transitions Concept in Healthcare. i-Manager’s Journal on Nursing, 9(4), 34.
Fex, A., Flensner, G., Ek, A. C., & Söderhamn, O. (2011). Health–illness transition among persons using advanced medical technology at home. Scandinavian journal of caring sciences, 25(2), 253-261.
Gazaway, S., Stewart, M., & Schumacher, A. (2019). Integrating palliative care into the chronic illness continuum: a conceptual model for minority populations. Journal of racial and ethnic health disparities, 6(6), 1078-1086.
Tomczyk, S., Schlick, S., Gansler, T., McLaren, T., Muehlan, H., Peter, L. J., & Schmidt, S. (2022). Continuum beliefs of mental illness: a systematic review of measures. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 1-16.
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