Relevance of the Health-Illness Continuum in Patient Care

Human Experience across the Health-Illness Continuum
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Human Experience across the Health-Illness Continuum
Healthcare providers play a significant role in the promotion and maintenance of health. This role requires them to prevent and treat illnesses while also improving the overall well-being of non-ill individuals. To perform this role adequately, healthcare professionals must understand the health-illness continuum as it relates to the human experience. This paper aims to provide insight into the relevance of the health-illness continuum in patient care.
The Health-Illness Continuum
Health does not exist in a stationary state. According to Swanson et al. (2019), it exists in a continuum characterized by severe disease and premature death on one end and high wellness levels on the other. Health changes along this continuum, and human beings will find their health at various points on the continuum along their life journey. A severely ill individual should move along the continuum by seeking treatment to get to the neutral state of wellness and then work towards achieving high-level wellness (Hinkle & Cheever, 2018). The degree of wellness or illness varies from one individual to another. However, the health-illness continuum can help nurses and other healthcare professionals provide optimal patient care based on where they are along the continuum. They can provide appropriate treatment, health awareness, and education to help patients achieve high-level wellness over time.
The Health-Illness Continuum and Human Value and Dignity
Human value and dignity are fundamental to human life and the Christian worldview. According to Kadivar et al. (2018), healthcare providers are responsible for promoting human value and dignity by protecting patients' privacy and respecting their choices and wishes. As a healthcare provider, I understand how important it is to promote human value and dignity. Understanding the health-illness continuum enables me to promote human value and dignity by showing me exactly where, along the continuum, a patient’s health is. As Swanson et al. (2019) indicate, the health or illness along the continuum is specific to each individual, and the healthcare interventions provided by healthcare professionals should respect the uniqueness of an individual’s health/illness and position along the continuum. I use my understanding of these facts to ensure that I respect patients’ choices and beliefs about health/illness while providing interventions that restore their health and/or push them toward wholeness. Restoring health is especially important in a Christian worldview because this worldview prescribes the preservation of human life.
Reflection on Personal Health State and the Health-Illness Continuum