Introduction
The Illness-Wellness continuum is a diagram that shows how a person’s health is made up of their mental awareness, emotional health, and whether or not they are sick. Travis proposed this concept in the year 1972. A person’s health condition varies; at times, he or she may be physically fine but suffer from certain conditions (Payton, 2017). The examination of the health-illness continuum and its relationship to the human experience aids in recognizing the significance of adaptation in maintaining health and well-being. Currently, healthcare is more concerned with disease and illness and less concerned with well-being and health. Every person has their own definition of health based on how they feel, whether or not they have symptoms of an illness, and whether or not they can function and carry out daily duties. A continuum care system can track a patient’s condition over time and determine the level of care required to keep them healthy.
The health-illness spectrum
A state of well-being or wellness is a moving target and an ongoing process. As a result, decision-making in health-related areas is required on a daily basis, and it affects the entire individual. The right end of the continuum represents high-level wellness, while the left end represents illness or premature death. The continuum’s midpoint is a point of no discernible illness or wellness. According to the theory, people move back and forth on the continuum on a daily basis (Greenberg, 2015). The treatment paradigm is to the left of the neutral point on the continuum. In the treatment and intervention of illness and disease states, traditional healthcare falls short. The further left a person moves on the continuum, the more healthcare takes over, and the patient does very little to get better. Traditional medicine can only bring a person back to a state of equilibrium on the wellness spectrum. Once the midpoint is reached, it is up to the individual to accept responsibility and play an active role in achieving a higher level of wellness.