Margaret Newman's Theory of Health Essay

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Margaret Newman stated that “health is the expansion of consciousness” in 1983 (Nursing Theories, 2011). Over the years she refined this theory in order to help explain the core ideas that support it. This paper will explain the theory, critique it, and supply answers from articles about the theory. It will also include an overview that explains the main point of the theory and use non-theoretical terms to explain the theory’s overall goal for nursing and core ideas.



Newman’s theory developed from the theory of unitary human beings put forward by Rogers—namely that “man is a unified whole possessing his own integrity and manifesting characteristics that are more than and different from the sum of his parts” (Endo, 2017, p. 50). Rogers’ theory stimulated Newman as they both “viewed health and illness not as two separate realities but as a unitary and transformative process” (Endo, 2017, p. 50). In Newman’s experience, she found that in many cases “health” is not always possible in terms of disease being absent. She wondered whether one could still find a way to be “healthy” even if one was consumed by a disease. She drew on her own personal experiences (for instance, her care for her mother) to find the answer. What she found was that while “health” in a physical sense might be impossible, “health” in a mental sense was entirely possible. This served as the basis for her concept of “health” as the expansion of consciousness—i.e., the idea of being healthy in the mind if not in the body (Newman, 1994).

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Newman’s theory brought simplicity to the concept of health and has allowed patients to come to grips with their condition in the sense that they can find a mental health state that gives them strength in times of physical adversity (Endo, 2017). Her theory is simple, clear and easy to access and has been influential in that it has been found to be applicable in a variety of settings (Nursing Theories, 2011). As Endo (2017) notes in particularly, “Newman’s theory has been used throughout the world, but it was quickly embraced and understood by nurses from the Eastern cultures [as] they are less bound by linear thought and a physical concept of health [and] are immersed more in the metaphysical aspect of human existence” (p. 52). Indeed, Newman’s theory brings a spiritual dimension to the subject of health and shows that mental health, meditation, thoughtfulness, and the right mental state are critical to having a high quality of life in spite of an illness—and what more is health if not high quality of life?

This approach to redefining “health” in this mental or spiritual way is not really novel, but it is somewhat classical in the sense that humans are viewed not simply as material creatures but rather as people who….....

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References

Endo, E. (2017). Margaret Newman’s theory of health as expanding consciousness and a nursing intervention from a unitary perspective. Asia-Pacific Journal of Oncology Nursing, 4(1), 50-52.

Newman, M. (1994). Health as expanding consciousness. Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett.

Nursing Theories. (2011). Health as expanding consciousness. Retrieved from http://currentnursing.com/nursing_theory/Newman_Health_As_Expanding_Consciousness.html
 

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