Relation of Human-Illness Continuum to Value, Dignity, and Promotion of Human Flourishing
Understanding the health-illness continuum enables health care professionals to provide appropriate care to patients across the lifespan to help them achieve high levels of wellbeing. As a healthcare provider, I apply the knowledge on the steps to high-level wellness to create awareness to patients and their families about diseases, including their risk factors and causes (Swan et al., 2019). I also educate them on interventions to improve their health and well-being, promoting growth and human flourishing. Besides, understanding the steps to premature death can enable healthcare providers to intervene early enough to prevent a patient’s signs and symptoms from progressing to disability and death (Swan et al., 2019). The continuum has enabled me to understand that people in the right direction are optimistic while those towards the left are generally pessimistic. Health providers use this knowledge to help patients have a positive attitude despite their health condition, enabling them to progress towards a high level of wellbeing.
Refection on Personal State of Health and the Health Illness Continuum
My overall state of health is generally good. I currently have no disease symptoms, medical conditions, or pre-existing chronic illnesses. Besides, I have never been hospitalized or undergone surgery, and my health has been good over the years. Behaviors that support good health and wellbeing include eating a healthy diet. I believe that every person has a responsibility to eat healthily and I thus take lots of fruits and plenty of water. I also control the intake of fast foods, highly processed foods, and artificially sugared drinks. Furthermore, I attend annual health check-ups to have blood pressure, blood glucose screening, urinalysis tests, and cancer screening. I sleep for at least 6 hours a day and attend Yoga sessions regularly for my mental wellbeing.
Behaviors that detract from my health include inadequate physical exercises and alcohol consumption. I currently fall on the right side of the health-illness continuum since I am aware of my health status and factors that put me at risk for diseases. For instance, I am aware of the risk of chronic illnesses since I have family members with diabetes and hypertension. I am also enlightened on interventions to implement to promote health and prevent diseases.
Resources Supporting Wellness
Resources available to help me move towards high-level wellness include community health centers, gymnasiums, and Yoga centers. I live near a community health center specializing in non-communicable diseases offering services such as screening, treatment, counseling, health education, rehabilitation care, and weight management. I can utilize these services to obtain more education on living a healthier lifestyle and managing weight. I can also have blood pressure and sugars regularly screened at the center. I can utilize gymnasium services to adopt an active lifestyle and boost cardiovascular health. Furthermore, I can enroll in a Yoga class at one of the centers, which is important for my mental health and wellbeing.
Conclusion
Health and illness are dynamic processes. Each individual is situated on a continuous continuum that ranges from wellness and optimal functioning in every aspect of an individual’s life, at one end, to illness ending in death, at the other end. Health providers who adequately understand the continuum can provide healthcare interventions that promote and uphold a patient’s value and dignity and help the patient flourish. I fall in the right direction of the continuum, and my health is supported by healthy dieting, attending annual check-ups, Yoga, and adequate sleep. Resources available to support wellness include community health centers, Yoga classes, and gymnasiums.
References
Lothes II, J. (2020). Teaching Wellness in a College Physical Education Course: Pre/Post Outcomes over the Semester. Building Healthy Academic Communities Journal, 4(1), 28-47. https://doi.org/10.18061/bhac.v4i1.7267
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