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Most people don’t operate in a vacuum. They have multiple influences, ranging from societal role models to personal beliefs and cultural remnants. These factors play a much deeper role than we imagine in affecting our long-term health.
And yet, nursing has yet to adopt a comprehensive view of patient care that considers the whole patient while recommending treatment. A 2024 article in the Journal of Medicine aptly points out how few providers actually move beyond a limited view of health, rendering the concept a marketing buzzword that is losing its meaning.
Part of the reason lies in the need for immediacy in healthcare. As professionals, we are results-oriented and need to prescribe prompt solutions. This restricts the ability to make judgments that involve multiple, not clearly evident, factors.
However, a larger reason for the low adoption of the whole-patient approach is the limited understanding of its possible impact.
Health as a Function of Multiple Influences
According to the NIH, whole-person health aims to adopt a holistic view of disease to improve resilience and life satisfaction, not only to provide symptomatic relief. This implies paying attention to the biological, behavioral, social, and environmental factors that interact with a person’s life.
The easiest way to understand the significance of whole-person care is to study the environmental impact on health outcomes. Here, environment could refer to, inter alia, one’s community, cultural identity, or socio-economic situation.
Consider chronic health problems like Type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure. The American Journal of Managed Care finds that Hispanic and Latino populations suffer from these conditions more often. Acculturation and socio-economic factors play a pivotal role in this dynamic.
Similarly, a research study in Frontiers in Public Health says that negative emotions and high stress levels are connected with an increased risk of respiratory conditions. This risk only becomes more pronounced upon exposure to environmental pollution (indoor and outdoor), which is prevalent in some Asian countries like India.
It stands to reason that healthcare that fails to account for these influences will be woefully inadequate.
Small Steps for Working Towards Whole-Patient Care
As a CNA, you are well-positioned to be a key component of the whole-person framework. The process must begin with active, empathetic listening that treats the patient as a complete entity, not a representation of their illness.
Over time, nursing professionals develop trust-based relationships with the patients. These bonds are necessary for helping the patients heal in physical, mental, and spiritual ways. The idea is not only to treat the illness but also to prevent it from recurring by identifying environmental or social factors that contribute to its incidence.
Nowadays, some MS-FNP online degrees focus on preparing nurses for problem-solving and equipping them with investigative capabilities. These online courses help working professionals expand their learning base and ensure accuracy in a patient’s recovery experience.
According to Texas Woman’s University, a multifaceted nursing practice is empowered to treat the whole patient, including their family, environment, and community. An academic foundation in this approach is an excellent head start for contemporary medical practitioners.
You can also:
- Recommend multidisciplinary suggestions to your team to support a patient’s healing. These could comprise social workers, therapists, and even hobby enthusiasts.
- Support your patients in learning more about their health condition and how they can actively manage their wellness. You can do this by educating them on optimal diet, exercise, and sleep habits. These are components core to most recovery plans.
- Keep judgment away when administering care, respecting that people from different backgrounds have varying influences and responses to ailments.
A Note of Caution
As of 2024, the global wellness market stood at $1.8 trillion. McKinsey reports that wellness trends, such as weight management and healthy aging, are becoming popular, particularly among Gen Z and millennial consumers.
The promotion and commercialization of these trends also exposes the healthcare sector to the possibility of marketing hogwash. This can drain the trust of patients and the larger community. It is important for medical practitioners to proactively address reservations related to the whole-person approach as well.
For example, people from marginalized communities in the US have long experienced discrimination when accessing public healthcare. How open are they to the whole-person approach, accepting it for its merits and not dismissing it as a money-making hack?
The overall trust in the healthcare system is even more precarious with the advent of artificial intelligence. A new YouGov survey found that 46 percent of people express distrust of AI in healthcare and other high-stakes sectors. This can encourage skepticism among some people, especially those who are tech-averse, leading them to label whole-patient techniques as a data-driven profiteering tactic.
A responsible CNA must endeavor to practice whole-person care on the ground and not allow it to stay restricted to an insurance policy handbook.
The process may involve considerable effort and demand heated discussions with superiors at work. You may have to rock the boat when advocating for your patients’ betterment against opposing forces. But the advantages of concerted and holistic healthcare are well-documented. These endeavors are necessary for a healthier future for humankind.
