The Gift of Healing in Chronic Illness/Disability

Abstract

Chronic illness and disabilities are the leading health problems in North America and represent the major health challenges of this era. The traditional Western illness care model that has profoundly influenced health care and nursing practice is oppressive, inappropriate, and inadequate to meet the needs of people living with chronic conditions. What is needed is fundamental shift in perspective, one that abandons the objective stance of the cure paradigm of Western medicine and embraces the care paradigm where the subjective experience of the person is of central concern. Such a perspective allows for the potential for healing to occur, regardless of the person's physical condition. This article presents the results of a recent study investigating the healing experience of people with chronic health challenges. An interpretive phenomenological investigation was undertaken with 8 participants, each participant living with different chronic conditions. The results of this study describe the participants' healing journey. Seven essential themes emerged to describe this experience. These themes include (a) In the Beginning, (b) Hitting the Wall, (c) Turning Around, (d) Letting Go, (e) Opening Up, (f) Letting In, and (g) the Gift. The results demonstrate a need to reconsider nursing education and practice, which shifts from the mandate of cure to a mandate of care and to one that emphasizes the promotion of health and healing.