HEALTH AND ILLNESS

The health illness continuum is a graphic

illustration of a well being ,concept first
proposed by John.W.Travis in 1972. It describes
how wellbeing is more than simply an absence
of illness , but also incorporates the individuals
mental and emotional health.
INTRODUCTION
• The individual’s state of health is one of continual
change.
• He moves back and forth from health to illness and
back to health again. His condition is rarely constant.
He may wake up feeling great, develop a headache
mid-morning, and feel fine again by noon.
• The health-illness continuum (see figure 1-1)
illustrates this process of change, in which the
individual experiences various states of health and
illness (ranging from extremely good health to death)
that fluctuate throughout his life.
HEALTH AND ILLNESS
• As we previously stated, health, just as life itself, is a
process of continual change. And we must
continually adapt to these changes in our lives in
order to maintain good health and well-being. It is
our adaptation or response to that change, rather
than the change itself, that affects our health.
EXAMPLE
• For example, two students just found out about a big test tomorrow,
for which they are completely unprepared. One student responds to
this stressful situation (stressor) by going home, getting his books
out, and starting to study.
• The other student breaks out into a sweat, and spends most of the
evening fretting over this outrage and imagining what will happen
to him if he doesn’t pass the test. No doubt, this student is doing
more damage to his health than is his friend. And, considering the
time and energy he is expending on worrying (and not studying), he
may experience even more stress when they receive their grades!
HEALTH AND ILLNESS
• Adaptation and effective functioning, even in the presence of
chronic disease, can be considered a state of wellness. A person may
be in perfect physical condition, but feel too tired and “blue” to go
to work, while his co-worker, a diabetic, is at work, functioning fully
and accomplishing his job. Which of these two people is at a higher
level on the health-illness continuum?
• In this illustration you can see that not only is the health continuum
moving from optimum wellness to premature death with the various
stages in between, but the 6 components of personal health are
surrounding the continuum as well. The components are revolving
around the continuum and contingent upon each other in a
continuous state.

• Our goal as nurses should be to move our patients beyond that to a

more optimal level of health. As you can see from the illustration, the
way to achieve this is through awareness, education and individual
growth.
• As nurses, it is our job to help our patients find their inspiration and
what their driving factor will be to put them on the path to better
health.
• One tool that nurses can use to help guide their patients in the right
direction is the health continuum, also called the illness-wellness
continuum.