Health Illness Theory

Health-illness theory

By: Imavike

HEALTH

“Is a complete physical, mental and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity” (WHO, 1947)

“Is not a condition; it is an adjustment. It is not a state but a process. The process adapts the individual not only to our physical, but also our social environments” (President’s Commission, 1953)

Health

• Being free of symptoms of disease and pain as much as possible

• Being able to be active and able to do what they want or must

• Being in good spirits most in time

WELLNESS & WELL-BEING

• Wellness is a state of well-being

• Wellness is the integration of body, mind and spirit—the appreciation that everything you do and think, and feel, and believe has an impact on your state of health

• Well-being is a subjective perception of balance, harmony and vitality

Models of healthand wellness

Smith’s models of health

1. Clinical model2. Role performance model3. Adaptive model4. Eudaemonistic model

Smith’s Clinical Model

• The narrowest interpretation of health occurs in the clinical model

• The focus of many medical practices is the relief of signs and symptoms of disease and the elimination of malfunctioning and pain. When the signs and symptoms of disease are no longer present in a person, the medical practitioner often considers that the individual’s health is restored.

Smith’s Role Performance Model

• Health is defined in terms of the individual’s ability to fulfill societal roles, that is to perform work

• According to this model : people who can fulfill their roles are healthy even if they appear clinically ill.

Smith’s Adaptive Model

The focus of the adaptive model is adaptation

Health is a creative process and disease is a failure in adaptation or maladaptation.

Smith’s Eudaemonistic

• This model is incorporates the most comprehensive view of health.

• Health is seen as a condition of actualization or realization of a person’s potential.

Leavell and Clark’s Agent-Host-Environment Model

• The model is used primarily in predicting illness rather than in promoting wellness, although identification of risk factors that result from the interaction of the agent-host-environment are helpful in promoting and maintaining health.

Health-illness Continua

• Grids or graduated scales can be used to measure a person’s perceived level of wellness.

Dunn’s High-Level Wellness Grid

Travis’s Illness-Wellness Continuum

Health Belief Model

Differentiating health status, beliefs & behaviors

• Health statusState of health of a person at a given time• Health beliefsConcept about health that an individual believes

trueSome of it are influenced by culture• Health behaviorThe actions people take to understand their health

state, maintain an optimal state of health, prevent illness and injury, and reach their maximum physical and mental potential.

Factor influencing health status, beliefs

and behavior

Internal factors

• Biologic dimensionGenetic makeup, race, sex, age, and

developmental level• Psychologic dimensionMind-body interaction, self-concept• Cognitive dimensionLife-style choices and spiritual and

religious beliefs

External factors

• Geography• Environment• Standards of living• Family and cultural beliefs• Social support network

Health care compliance

• Is the extent to which an individual’s behavior coincides with medical or health advice

Factors influencing compliance

• Patient motivation to become well• Degree of life-style change

necessary• Perceived severity of the health

care problem• Value placed on reducing the

threat of illness• Difficulty in understanding and

performing specific behaviors• Degree of inconvenience of the

illness itself or of the regimen

Factors influencing compliance

• Belief that the prescribed therapy or regimen will or will not help

• Complexity, side-effects, and duration of proposed therapy

• Specific cultural heritage that may make compliance difficult

• Degree of satisfaction and quality and type of relationship with the health care providers

• Overall cost of prescribed therapy

How to cope??

• Establish why the patient is not following the regimen

• Demonstrate caring• Encourage healthy behaviors through

positive reinforcement• Use aids to reinforce teaching• Establish a therapeutic relationship of

freedom, mutual responsibility with the patient and support person

ILLNESS AND DISEASE

Illness is a highly personal state in which the person feels unhealthy or ill.

Disease is a term that can be described as an alteration in body functions resulting in a reduction of a capacities or a shortening of the normal life span.

Effects of illness

• Privacy is often affected• Give up much their autonomy• Financial burden• A change in life-style

Illness also affects the family or significant person

Promoting health and wellness

• Can be achieve through Health Promotion

• Types of health promotion programs:Information disseminationHealth appraisal/ wellness assessment

programsLife-style and behavior change programsWorksite wellness programsEnvironmental control programs

The nurse’s role in health promotion

• Model healthy life-style behaviors and attitudes• Facilitates patient involvement in the

assessment, implementation and evaluation of health goals

• Teach patients self-care strategies to enhance fitness, improve nutrition, manage stress and enhance relationships

• Assist individuals, families and communities to increase their levels of health

• Teach patient to be effective health care consumers

The nurse’s role in health promotion

• Assist patients, families and communities to develop and choose health-promoting options

• Guide the patients’ development in effective problem solving and decision making

• Reinforce the patients’ personal and family health-promoting behaviors

• Advocate in the community for changes that promote a healthy environment

…ThankYou…