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 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.
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