Research the health-illness continuum and its relevance to patient care. In a 750-1,000 word paper, discuss the relevance of the continuum to patient care and present a perspective of your current state of health in relation to the wellness spectrum. Include the following:
Examine the health-illness continuum and discuss why this perspective is important to consider in relation to health and the human experience when caring for patients.
Explain how understanding the health-illness continuum enables you, as a health care provider, to better promote the value and dignity of individuals or groups and to serve others in ways that promote human flourishing.
Reflect on your overall state of health. Discuss what behaviors support or detract from your health and well-being. Explain where you currently fall on the health-illness continuum.
Discuss the options and resources available to you to help you move toward wellness on the health-illness spectrum. Describe how these would assist in moving you toward wellness (managing a chronic disease, recovering from an illness, self-actualization, etc.).
You are required to cite a minimum of three peer-reviewed sources to complete this assignment. Sources must be published within the last 5 years, appropriate for the assignment criteria, and relevant to nursing practice.
Prepare this assignment according to the guidelines found in the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center. An abstract is not required.
This assignment uses a rubric. Please review the rubric prior to beginning the assignment to become familiar with the expectations for successful completion.
You are required to submit this assignment to LopesWrite. A link to the LopesWrite technical support articles is located in Class Resources if you need assistance.
Benchmark Information
This benchmark assesses the following competency:
RN-BSN
5.1. Understand the human experience across the health-illness continuum.
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The Health-Illness Continuum and Its Relevance to Patient Care
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The Health-Illness Continuum and Its Relevance to Patient Care
Introduction
Good health is the most important treasure a human being can ever have and the most desired state of being. The primary goal of healthcare and health workers is to help individuals achieve wellness or health (Selekman et al., 2019). When one is sick, they want to recover and achieve some level of health or wellbeing, hence, they seek medical attention. There are several components of personal health including physical health, emotional health, mental health, social health, environmental health, and spiritual health (Selekman et al., 2019). To understand health, it is also important to understand the health-illness continuum. This paper discusses the health-illness continuum and its importance to health care.
The Health-Illness Continuum and Its Importance to Health and Healthcare
One’s state of health often undergoes continual change. The health-illness continuum is a model that illustrates such kind of process change, whereby one experiences different states of health and illness that vary throughout life (Cheung et al., 2019). These experiences range from extremely good health to death. The health-illness is important in healthcare because it provides critical knowledge that well-being is dynamic and not static. It shows that people can move either towards a high level of wellness or death based on the kind of lifestyle they chose to live (Cheung et al., 2019). By considering the perspective of the health-illness continuum, one can choose to live a healthy life and always seek medical attention to achieve a high level of wellness.
How Health-Illness Continuum Is Helpful to A Health Care Provider
As a healthcare provider, the perspective of the health-illness continuum has been very useful in caring for patients. with the help of the model, it is possible to provide individualized care to persons throughout life (Cheung et al., 2019). When talking to patients, it is important to understand that having a positive mind highly influences the health of patients. The knowledge of the health-illness continuum enhances empathy and understanding that helps in building a connection with patients. The model can be used to develop educational programs for patients to help them change their behaviors. For example, it can be used to promote physical activity or exercise, which is often perceived as a major determinant of health (Cheung et al., 2019). With the view of the health-illness continuum, health workers can motivate patients to improve their health and prevent any emotional and physical disease.
Reflection On the Overall State of Health
For me, I would place myself in the middle on the health-illness continuum scale. I would consider myself as having normal health because I do not have any chronic illness. My body operates normally and I can run, play, read, and think, every time I want. However, there are certain behaviors that both hinder and promote my overall health (Fonte et al., 2020). Some of the behaviors that improve my health include my ability to manage stress. I often get relieved from stress as soon as possible by taking a walk, listening to music, and sharing with friends and families (Fonte et al., 2020). Additionally, I tend to live a sedentary life because of a tight schedule. I am often too busy hence not getting enough time for physical exercise.
Another behavior that has a detrimental influence on my health is inadequate sleep due to being too busy. Also, my sleeping pattern is not consistent because sometimes I sleep during the day and other times at night (Fonte et al., 2020). This fluctuation is due to varying shifts between days and nights. I also have some good behaviors, for instance, eating a lot of fruits and vegetables. I also drink two liters of water a day and wear sunglasses. These behaviors help me to maintain normal health.
Options and Resources Available to Help in Achieving Wellness
There are several resources available that I can utilize to help me achieve a high level of wellness. The first resource I can use is a healthcare facility to let the experts perform a medical checkup and recommend a better lifestyle (Selekman et al., 2019). For example, talking to a nutritionist would be important to recommend healthy eating behaviors. A physician may advice regarding my sleeping patterns and sedentary life. Gymnasiums are good resources to exploit. They can help improve physical activity while reducing the impact of sedentary life. The stadia are also good places for engaging in exercise (Selekman et al., 2019). Books and the internet are important resources to learn about healthy lifestyles that can help one achieve a high level of wellness.
Conclusion
Everyone wants good health although it requires extra effort to achieve. One’s health tends to deteriorate over time based on several issues including the lifestyle he/she is living. The health-illness model can be utilized to improve patient care. The knowledge of the health-illness continuum enhances empathy and understanding that helps in building a connection with patients. The health-illness is important in healthcare because it provides critical knowledge that well-being is dynamic and not static. In that regard, this paper has discussed the health-illness continuum model and its relation to patient care.
References
Cheung, S., Spaeth-Rublee, B., Shalev, D., Li, M., Docherty, M., Levenson, J., & Pincus, H. A. (2019). A model to improve behavioral health integration into serious illness care. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, 58(3), 503-514. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2019.05.017
Fonte, C., Silva, I., Vilhena, E., & Keyes, C. L. (2020). The portuguese adaptation of the mental health continuum-short form for adult population. Community mental health journal, 56(2), 368-375.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-019-00484-8
Selekman, J., Shannon, R. A., & Yonkaitis. (2019). School nursing: A comprehensive text. F.A. Davis Company.