Concepts of Health, Wellness, and Well-Being

• Nurses' understanding of health and wellness shapes their practice, while clients' health beliefs influence their behaviors.
• Health and well-being are often linked but can exist independently.
• Healthcare emphasizes illness prevention and health/wellness promotion at individual, family, and community levels.

Concepts of Health, Wellness, and Well-Being

• Nurses need to understand and adapt these concepts to meet individual client needs.
• Health is traditionally defined by the presence or absence of disease
• Florence Nightingale described health as a state of well-being where individuals fully use their abilities.
• The World Health Organization (WHO) defines health as a complete state of physical, mental, and social well-being, not merely the absence of disease.
• Wellness is a state of well-being involving self-responsibility, goal-setting, and continuous personal growth through daily decisions in nutrition, stress management, fitness, preventive healthcare, and emotional health.
• Well-being is a multidimensional concept reflecting life opportunities and achievements, including consumption, personal security, capabilities, and conditions that influence the ability to achieve goals such as health.

Variables Influencing Health Status, Beliefs, and Behaviors

• Health status, beliefs, and behaviors are influenced by both controllable and uncontrollable factors.
• Health status refers to an individual's overall condition at a given time, including general well-being and specific health indicators.
• Health beliefs are personal concepts about health, influenced by cultural factors.
• Health behaviors are actions taken to assess, maintain, and improve health, such as healthy eating, exercising, and following medical advice.

Factors Affecting Health: Internal Variables

• Internal variables include biological, psychological, and cognitive factors.
• Nurses help clients manage external variables like diet and exercise to promote health and prevent illness.
• Regular health check-ups and screenings are crucial for early detection and management.

Biological Dimension

• Genetic Makeup: Influences traits, temperament, activity levels, and intellectual potential.
• Sex: Disease distribution varies by sex; women are more prone to osteoporosis and autoimmune diseases, while men are more likely to develop stomach ulcers, hernias, and respiratory diseases.
• Age: Disease occurrence differs across age groups.
• Developmental Level: Unique health risks at different life stages

Psychological Dimension

• Mind–Body Interaction: Emotional states impact physical health, stress can cause physical symptoms, and prolonged distress can weaken the immune system.
• Self-Concept: Influences health behaviors and overall well-being; a positive self-concept contributes to healthier lifestyle choices and coping mechanisms.

Cognitive Factors Influencing Health

• Include lifestyle choices and spiritual/religious beliefs.
• Lifestyle Choices: Shaped by sociocultural influences and personal characteristics, impacting health positively or negatively.
• Negative lifestyle choices are risk factors that can contribute to various health conditions.
• Examples include, poor diet and lack of exercise that is linked to heart disease and tobacco use that is strongly associated with lung cancer.
• Spiritual and Religious Beliefs: Influence health behaviors, coping strategies, provide emotional support, encourage healthy habits, and impact treatment decisions.

External Variables

• External variables affecting health include the physical environment, standards of living, family/cultural beliefs, and social support networks.
• Geographic Location: Determines climate, directly impacting health conditions.
• Standards of Living: Reflecting occupation, income, and education, which is related to health, morbidity, and mortality.

Illness and Disease

• Illness is a personal perception of diminished well-being, which may or may not be linked to disease.
• Disease is a functional alteration that reduces capacity or lifespan, sometimes requiring medical intervention.
• Etiology refers to the cause of a disease, involving multiple contributing factors beyond the primary biological agent.

Types of Illness

• Acute Illness: Short-term with sudden onset and quick resolution (e.g., colds, appendicitis).
• Chronic Illness: Long-term (6+ months) with slow onset and periods of remission and exacerbation (e.g., arthritis, heart disease, diabetes).
• Nurses play a key role in managing both types of illnesses.

Suchman’s Stages of Illness

• Symptom Experiences: Recognition of something wrong through physical symptoms, cognitive interpretation, and emotional response.
• Assumption of the Sick Role: Acknowledging sickness, seeking support, and possibly postponing professional care while attempting self-treatment.
• Medical Care Contact: Seeking professional help for diagnosis and treatment, accepting provider recommendations.
• Dependent Client Role: Following the prescribed treatment and depending on healthcare providers for guidance.
• Recovery or Rehabilitation: Resuming normal activities or adapting to new limitations due to chronic conditions.

Effects of Illness

• Illness affects both the client and their family, varying based on severity, duration, financial demands, and lifestyle changes.
• Impact on the Client: Can cause emotional and behavioral changes like anxiety, fear, anger, and withdrawal, especially with severe or chronic illnesses.
• Impact on the Family: Can lead to emotional distress, financial strain, and role adjustments, potentially causing stress, resentment, and feelings of helplessness.
• Coping Strategies: Support systems like counseling, support groups, and effective communication can benefit both clients and families.

Health Care Delivery System

• The totality of services provided by all health disciplines.
• The purpose is to provide care to people who are ill or injured.
• Systems are changing to increase awareness of health promotion, illness prevention and level of wellness.
• Primary Prevention: Health Promotion and Illness Prevention
• Secondary Prevention: Diagnosis and Treatment
• Tertiary Prevention: Rehabilitation, Health Restoration, and Palliative Care

Types of health care agencies

• Public health or government agency
• Physicians' offices
• Ambulatory care centers
• Occupational health clinics
• Hospitals and its types
• long term care facilities
• Rehabilitation centers
• Hospice services

Hospitals and its types

• A health care institution with organized medical and professional staff and permanent facilities that include in-patient beds, which Provide medical, nursing and other health related services.
• Hospital derive from Latin ward hospes, which means a host or guest.
• Functions of the hospital include preventive, curative, training, and research functions
• Types of Hospital
  • Public hospital and private owned hospital

Health care team

• Referred to as a health care team which consist of a nurse and health professional from different disciplines who coordinate their skills to assist clients and their support person.
• Their mutual goal is to restore a client's health and promote wellness.
• The choice of personnel for a particular client depends on the needs of the client
• Health team member include nurse, case manager, dentist. dietician, occupational therapist, paramedical technologist, pharmacist etc

Health promotion

• An important component of nursing practice where individuals and communities seek to increase their responsibility for personal health and self-care require health education.
• The level of prevention occurs at various points of a cores of disease progression.
• Primary prevention
• Secondary prevention
• Tertiary prevention

Role of a nurse in health promotion model

• Encourage healthy lifestyle behaviors and attitudes, facilitate client involvement and teach clients self-care strategies.
• Increase levels of health, educate clients to be effective health care consumers and assist clients in health-promoting options.
• Reinforce health-promoting behaviors.
• Advocate in the community for changes that promote a healthy environment