Introduction
In the healthcare field, an emphasis is frequently placed on how to deal with a specific undesired condition. This tendency should not be considered utterly incorrect, as it does manage to deal with the problem at hand and provide relief to the patient. However, approaching patients this way implies only a short-term solution since it disregards various causal factors. In this context, the health-illness continuum significantly broadens the scope of illness by considering the patient’s health and lifestyle prior to becoming ill as well. Only through such a comprehensive approach can healthcare providers ensure the best quality of care possible.
Health-Illness Continuum
A state of illness is the main point of interest within the biomedical model. According to Ogden (2019), the disease is caused solely by direct external factors, such as viruses, bacteria, or the body’s chemical imbalance. In contrast, the biopsychosocial model takes the patient’s psychological state into account to locate and address indirect factors that might have contributed to the disease’s onset (Ogden, 2019). Namely, it is due to psychological factors that health and illness should be considered inseparable and referred to as the health-illness continuum. By paying attention to patient’s psychological needs, practitioners can not only provide a quicker solution to an undesired condition but also prevent the condition’s occurrence in the future.
Value, Dignity, and Human Flourishing
While psychological factors do not directly cause illness from a biological perspective, they significantly affect the body’s natural ability to resist it. In addition, they can impact the patient’s mental health and cause a variety of undesired mental conditions. For instance, excessive stress, anxiety, and depression may result in negative mood, behavioral, and sleep alterations (López‐López, 2019). The inability to relax and restore physical and emotional energy will, in turn, result in low self-esteem, depersonalization, and poor personal and professional accomplishments.
In this context, understanding the health-illness continuum will allow practitioners to help patients deal with psychological problems. In many ways, this attitude will remind patients of their true value and dignity. Moreover, helping a patient to regain confidence in themselves will undoubtedly help them grow and flourish as a person. According to the Bible, people are God’s beloved creations, and they are responsible for taking care of others (NIV, Gen 2:15; Ps 8:5). Consequently, a comprehensive approach to one’s treatment actually perfectly aligns with Christian values and worldview.
Personal State of Health
Thankfully, I am currently healthy, which puts me on the left side of the health-illness continuum. However, I do not think I am as far from the illness breakpoint as I could be. Firstly, I experience a reasonable amount of stress in the educational process since I understand its value and have high personal expectations. Moreover, my close ones also have expectations on my behalf. Overall, it puts a high amount of responsibility on my shoulders, and I cannot help but worry about my future. Secondly, I am not particularly physically active and tend to spend much time in front of a computer. Therefore, putting some effort into dealing with stress and remaining physically active can genuinely promote my current well-being.
Available Options and Resources
Currently, there is an enormous number of options for wellness and lifestyle improvement. To begin with, many healthcare organizations use their time and knowledge to develop guidelines for people on health improvement. For instance, the Healthy People organization devoted itself to establishing standards and monitoring the scientific progress regarding the matter.
In particular, Healthy People developed a set of 10-year national objectives scattered over the public health areas (Healthy People 2030, n.d.). Healthy People 2030 objectives assess the population’s health, foster collaboration across various societal sectors, and call for action at different societal levels to improve people’s well-being. In other words, these objectives serve to emphasize the high-priority health problems and ways of potential available solutions. By following them, I can gradually adjust my lifestyle to pursue the goal of wellness.
In case I am not able to implement the lifestyle changes myself, I can turn to various healthcare intervention programs to seek professional help. For example, I can undergo a resilience-strengthening intervention to boost my everyday stress resilience. Resilience can be understood as an adaptational process to stress and life hardships involving dynamic interactions between personal factors, environmental conditions, and resources (Foster et al., 2019). Therefore, an intervention will not only provide me with a positive experience but also educate me on how I can further improve my lifestyle. This way, I will be one step closer to achieving wellness.
Conclusion
The health-illness continuum framework provides a comprehensive approach to one’s well-being, making it particularly valuable for healthcare professionals. First of all, it addresses both illness prevention and actual treatment. Moreover, it positively affects individual well-being by promoting the patient’s psychological balance and development. I might not display particularly good results on the health-illness continuum currently. However, there are plenty of possibilities and opportunities in the form of health guidelines and professional interventions to help me address the issue.
References
Foster, K., Roche, M., Delgado, C., Cuzzillo, C., Giandinoto, J. A., & Furness, T. (2019). Resilience and mental health nursing: An integrative review of international literature. International Journal of Mental Health Nursing, 28(1), 71-85. Web.
Healthy People 2030. (n.d.) Browse objectives. ODPHP. Web.
López‐López, I. M., Gómez‐Urquiza, J. L., Cañadas, G. R., De la Fuente, E. I., Albendín‐García, L., & Cañadas‐De la Fuente, G. A. (2019). Prevalence of burnout in mental health nurses and related factors: A systematic review and meta‐analysis. International Journal of Mental Health Nursing, 28(5), 1035-1044. Web.
NIV. (2011). The Holy Bible: New international version. Hodder & Stoughton.
Ogden, J. (2019). Health psychology (6th ed.). McGraw Hill.
