NRS 434 Benchmark Human Experience Across the Health-Illness Continuum

Sample Answer

Health is a dynamic state of wellbeing characterized by a physical and mental potential, which meets the demands of life proportionate to age, culture, and personal responsibility. Health is an unpredictable component that changes from time to time to adjust to internal or external variables (van Druten et al., 2022). The purpose of this paper is to discuss the essence of the health-illness continuum to health patient care and describe my current state of health and the resources that support wellness.

Importance of Health-Illness Continuum to Health and Patient Care

The Health-Illness Continuum is a concept proposed by John Travis in 1972. It is a graphic representation of a person’s wellness. According to Travis, an individual is considered to be healthy not only based on the absence of disease but also depending on their mental and emotional health and wellbeing (Svalastog et al., 2018). The graphic representation has two arrows, one to the right and the other to the left. The right arrow leads to a high level of wellness with achievement of optimum health, which is attained through, awareness, education, and growth (Kishan, 2020).

The left arrow leads to premature death and this begins with signs, symptoms, and disability. At the center of the graph is the neutral zone characterized by neither health nor illness. The Health-Illness Continuum is essential to health and patient care since it enlightens providers that medicine and physical treatment only moves health to the neutral point where there are no signs of illness. However, after attaining the neutral point, it depends on the person to move to optimum health characterized by a high level of wellness (Ali et al., 2018).

For an individual to attain a high level of wellness, they pass through stages of awareness, education, and growth. Thus, it is the provider’s role to help the patient progress through these three stages. Providers must understand that if an individual has a positive attitude, they progress towards achieving good health (Kishan, 2020). But if they have a negative attitude, they move towards premature death.

Relation of Human-Illness Continuum to Value, Dignity, and Promotion of Human Flourishing

The health-illness continuum enables me as a healthcare provider to identify a patient’s stage of health and position on the model. Besides, I can identify risk factors that contribute to the deterioration of a patient’s health. As a result, I can help patients mitigate these risk factors in a way that enables them to flourish and attain better health outcomes. The continuum has given me insight that people experience various states of health and illness varying from good health to states of disability (Kishan, 2020).

Consequently, I identify interventions that foster individuals’ values and dignity and align with the Christian worldview. Furthermore, the continuum enables me to help patients adapt to the changes \they face in each stage of the continuum and maintain a positive attitude, which is crucial in attaining good health.

Reflection on the Personal State of Health and the Health-Illness Continuum

I have a good overall state of health with no current signs, symptoms, or disability. My current state of health can be attributed to my healthy lifestyle practices like healthy dietary habits, engaging in regular physical exercises, adhering to immunizations, and abstaining from tobacco smoking. Two years ago I was informed that I was overweight and my knowledge of the health effects of being overweight drove me to change my lifestyle habits. Consequently, I reduced my intake of high-caloric foods including junk foods, sugared drinks, and processed foods. I also limited my alcohol intake to occasional drinking. In addition, I incorporated physical exercises into my daily routine including aerobic and muscle-strengthening exercises.

This helped me to lose a significant amount of weight and maintained my BMI within the healthy range. Furthermore, I attend annual well exams and adhere to the recommended screenings. For my mental health, I ensure I have adequate rest and attend therapy when feeling stressed. I currently fall on the right side of the health continuum since I am aware of the importance of healthy lifestyle practices. Besides, I have taken the initiative to learn the measures to promote overall good health and implemented them.

Resources Supporting Wellness

The community I live in provides various resources that will help me to move towards wellness and attain better health outcomes. This includes community clinics, mental health centers, and physical fitness resources. Community clinics will be essential in accessing healthcare services including preventive and curative services (Koskinen, 2020). In addition, mental health centers will provide mental wellness services. The physical fitness resources include gymnasiums and sports facilities, which will help me, maintain my physical exercise routine. The resources will be vital in maintaining a healthy weight and improving my overall physical and mental health.

Conclusion

The health-illness continuum is a graphic representation with two arrows, one to the right and the other to the left. The right arrow leads to a high level of wellness, while the left arrow leads to premature death. The continuum enables providers to understand that a person’s attitude towards health also affects their overall outcome. I currently have a good overall state of health attributed to my healthy lifestyle practices like healthy dietary habits and engaging in physical exercises.

References

• Ali, T., Hussain, M., Afzal, M., Khan, W. A., Hur, T., Amin, M. B., Kim, D., Kang, B.H.,& Lee, S. (2018). Clinically harmonized wellness concepts model for health and wellness services. IEEE Access, 6, 26660-26674.10.1109/ACCESS.2018.2834391
• Kishan, P. (2020). Yoga and Spirituality in Mental Health Illness to Wellness. Indian Journal of psychological medicine, 42(5), 411–420. https //doi.org/10.1177/0253717620946995
• Koskinen, V. (2020). Building skills for lifelong wellness An empirical study on the wellness-oriented lifestyle. JYU dissertations.
• Svalastog, A. L., Donev, D., Jahren Kristoffersen, N., & Gajović, S. (2018). Concepts and definitions of health and health-related values in the knowledge landscapes of the digital society. Croatian medical journal, 58(6), 431–435. https //doi.org/10.3325/cmj.2017.58.431
• van Druten, V. P., Bartels, E. A., van de Mheen, D., de Vries, E., Kerckhoffs, A. P. M., & Nahar-van Venrooij, L. M. W. (2022). Concepts of health in different contexts a scoping review. BMC health services research, 22(1), 389. https //doi.org/10.1186/s12913-022-07702-2