Healing, a Concept Analysis

Systemic Factors Affecting Healing in Dentistry

Healing process in the oral cavity is influenced by a range of systemic factors. More specifically, patient health status, medications, habits, and nutritional state play crucial roles in dental healing. Additionally, the body's immune response, inflammation, and overall well-being are key determinants in wound repair. Understanding these systemic factors is essential for dental professionals to optimize patient care, minimize complications, and achieve successful healing.

Community environmental healing benefits: A systematic review comparing intervening variables, environments, and outcomes

As the smallest spatial unit in the city, the community should be an important space for healing the urban population. This paper presents a systematic review summarizing studies on community healing environments. The study identified 75 publications. The research findings are as follows: the main intervening variables include restorativeness, emotions and mood, stress, and well-being. Little attention has been paid to the intervening variables including social support, environmental preferences and satisfaction, place attachment, behavior types that respond to personal will, self-fulfillment, and the spirit of personal culture. The various types of natural environments in communities have been given focused attention for a long time. However, the superiority of the natural environment should not be a reason to underestimate the healing benefits of community spaces. The mechanisms by which environmental characteristics are transformed into positive individual influences through intervening variables should be explored.

The Reintegration of Men into Society after a Sexual Offense: A Hermeneutic Phenomenology Study

The purpose of this study was to describe the lived experience and meaning of being a 'sex offender' for the individual who is reintegrating into society, considering issues associated with self-perception, perception of others, stigma and humanization. Fourteen male adults were invited to participate in this hermeneutic phenomenological study. Data analysis was completed using an iterative process as described by van Manen. Five major themes were identified: exposed secret leads to humiliation; being considered a sex offender is living in fear of the unknown; stigma and shame consume the identity of the individual charged with a sexual offense; reframing and "leveling" of the crime are coping strategies; and the path toward healing and forgiveness is complex. Contextualizing individuals' experiences and examining barriers and motivators post-charge are essential to minimize stigma and risk factors linked to recidivism, as well as to facilitate recovery and healing.

A cross-cultural concept analysis of healing in nursing: a hybrid model

BACKGROUND

As a familiar yet abstract and vague concept for nurses, healing is affected by the cultural needs of different communities. The concept of healing is nowadays recommended in nursing theories, and its clarification can develop healing-based nursing care. The present study was conducted to objectify and clarify the concept of healing in nursing care.

METHODS

The present research employed a hybrid concept analysis model developed by Schwartz-Barcott and Kim. The conceptual analysis model of Walker & Avant was used in the theoretical phase, i.e., literature review, where relevant articles in PubMed, ISI, Google Scholar, Scopus, SID and Magiran were reviewed irrespective of publication time. Unstructured interviews were conducted with ten participants in the field data collection phase. A final analysis was performed by combining the two phases.

RESULTS

The theoretical phase identified healing characteristics such as balancing and hope-making originated from mental and spiritual states. Analyzing the data in the fieldwork stage extracted five main themes, i.e. "comprehensive psychophysical health", "cure, a small part of healing", "healing, a spiritual recovery", "an individual's own role in healing" and "healing, an unexpected event". During the patient care process, nurses can help patients heal by establishing appropriate communication and comprehensive understanding of the patients by designing and implementing appropriate interventions and integrating healing strategies into their comprehensive care measures.

CONCLUSIONS

The concept of healing in nursing care is a general and complex process, and different people can interpret it differently on their road to health. Properly understanding the concept of healing enables nurses to assist patients in achieving health and healing through proper communication, holistic care, empowering patients to perform self-care and providing spiritual care.

Assessing SPACES in Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Helps Identify Unmet Needs

Environmental factors contribute to the symptom burden for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, particularly in the Appalachian region where prevalence of the disease is higher. These regions are especially vulnerable because of poor air quality, exposure to organic toxic dust, and higher percentage of smokers. Using an innovative approach to assess the home environmental impact, SPACES (Spend, Primary Place, Assessment, Changes, Equipment, and Synergy), palliative care providers may uncover factors contributing to the symptom burden that might otherwise be missed. We present a case of a 68-year-old woman living in Appalachia with several environmental factors that contributed to her symptom burden while reducing the healing home environment.

Scoping review protocol to map studies on self-healing practices for suicide loss survivors

INTRODUCTION

Suicide loss survivors often find it challenging to access professional help due to social stigma despite being at a higher risk of developing suicidal behaviour and mental health problems. Most available grief interventions are professional-led and heavily rely on help-seeking behaviour. Self-healing is a growing alternative intervention that is still relatively under-researched for suicide-bereaved individuals. This scoping review aims to determine the extent to which self-healing research has been undertaken, how well all subpopulations and geographical areas are represented, the methodologies used and outcomes associated with self-healing practices in suicide-related grief. The research gap in this area will be highlighted to inform future study direction.

METHOD AND ANALYSIS

The proposed review will be guided by the methodological framework proposed by Arksey and O'Malley in 2015. Articles will be retrieved from CINAHL, Embase, MEDLINE, PsycINFO and Web of Science. Peer-reviewed publications that provide data on self-healing practices within the context of suicide loss survivors will be included. The research team will screen the retrieved articles through a two-step screening process: (1) Title and abstract screening and (2) full-text screening. The reporting of the scoping review will be done following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for scoping reviews guideline.

ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION

This study does not require ethical approval because it will synthesise information from available publications. Results of this scoping review will be submitted for publication to a peer-reviewed journal and potentially be presented at relevant conferences.

Curing and Healing: What the Gospel Story of the Haemorrhaging Woman Can Teach Nurses

"Curing" and "healing" are terms frequently used in health care, yet what is actually meant by each? This article asserts that curing pertains exclusively to the corporal while healing is multidimensional-embracing the whole person. Drawing insights from the gospel healing story of the Haemorrhoissa, better known as the bleeding woman or the woman with the issue of blood(Mt 9:20-22; Mk 5:24-34; Lk 8:42-48), this article demonstrates that imitating Christ and partaking in His ministerial mission of healing the sick, demands assisting in the healing process as it expresses authentic Christian love through the patient care provided.

Communication related to medication incidents-A concept analysis and literature review

AIMS

(1) To identify and analyse the conceptual framework and operationalise the concept of communication issues related to medication incidents in hospital to facilitate the development of a future tool for measuring frequencies of the communication issues. (2) To determine how the concept is distinct from related concepts.

DESIGN

Concept analysis.

DATA SOURCES

Twenty-three articles from seven scientific databases covering the years 2010-2020 and two official documents.

METHODS

Walker and Avant's concept analysis method was used. That was started by a systematised literature review on 2 November 2020 using specified criteria. Two authors evaluated articles' quality by Joanna Brigg's Institute's criteria. Literature review results were analysed deductive-inductively; conceptual framework was developed and concept defined presenting case scenarios. EQUATOR's standards were used in study reporting.

RESULTS

A conceptual framework and the concept of 'communication related to medication incidents in hospitals' were defined, comprising six main attribute categories: (1) communication dyads involved in communication, (2) patients' or professionals' individual issues, (3) institutional, (4) contextual and process issues, (5) communication concerning medication prescriptions and (6) qualitative characteristics of communication. The categories consisted of 128 quantitatively measurable and 10 qualitative attributes describing communication issues. The concept is distinct from related concepts by collating fragmented communication issues into the same concept.

CONCLUSION

The 128-item conceptual framework and the concept of communication related to medication incidents in hospitals were defined, as there was not one. The concept assembled parts of previous theories and fragmented information to one entity. The concept needs further condensing and validation to develop a tool for measuring communication issues.

IMPACT ON MEDICATION SAFETY

The conceptual framework can be used in practice and education as indicative rationale for reflection of current communication issues. The concept contributes to research by providing necessary grounding for tool development for measuring communication factors relating medication incidents.

Existential uncertainty in health care: A concept analysis

RATIONALE, AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

According to an influential taxonomy of varieties of uncertainty in health care, existential uncertainty is a key aspect of uncertainty for patients. Although the term "existential uncertainty" appears across a number of disciplines in the research literature, its use is diffuse and inconsistent. To date there has not been a systematic attempt to define it. The aim of this study is to generate a theoretically-informed conceptualisation of existential uncertainty within the context of an established taxonomy.

METHOD

Existential uncertainty was subjected to a concept analysis, which drew on existing uses of the term across multiple disciplines as well as insights from uncertainty theory more broadly and from the existential therapy literature to generate a tentative definition of the concept. Antecedents, consequences, and empirical referents of existential uncertainty were also identified. A model case was described as well as a borderline case and a related case in order to illustrate and delineate the concept.

RESULTS

Existential uncertainty is conceptualised as an awareness of the undetermined but finite nature of one's own being-in-the-world, concerned primarily with identity, meaning, and choice. This awareness is fundamental and ineradicable, and manifests at different levels of consciousness.

CONCLUSION

Humans rely on identity, worldview, and a sense of meaning in life as ways of managing the ineradicable uncertainty of our being-in-the-world, and these can be challenged by a serious diagnosis. It is important that medical professionals acknowledge issues around existential uncertainty as well as issues around scientific uncertainty, and recognise when patients might be struggling with these. Further research is required to identify ways of measuring existential uncertainty and to develop appropriate interventions, but it is hoped that this conceptualisation provides a useful first step towards that goal.

Psychometric Properties of the Self-Healing Assessment Scale for Community-Dwelling Older Adults

Self-healing, an intrinsic healing capacity, helps individuals’ bodies and minds to regain wholeness and is significant in the pursuit of one’s own healthy ageing and independence. This study was intended to develop and preliminarily test the reliability and validity of the self-healing assessment scale (SHAS) for community-dwelling older adults, and was conducted in three phases. Phase 1: The definitions of self-healing were synthesized from our knowledge of the literature regarding the ontology of self-healing and panels of 25 experts. The initial version of the 12-item questionnaire was developed by the in-depth interviews of focus groups and panels, and the content was validated by six experts. Phase 2: A cross-sectional survey, including a total of 500 community-dwelling older adults with a mean age of 71.76, was then conducted for the preliminary reliability and validity test. The content validity indices were satisfied. Twelve items were retained, and three factors were identified, namely, physical and mental state, socioeconomic and environmental status, and independent lifestyle, which explained 65.8% of the variance under explorative approval. Phase 3: the standardized factor above 60 obtained by confirmatory factorial analysis indicated good convergent validity. The relationship between self-healing and health-related quality of life was confirmed via concurrent validity testing. The SHAS can facilitate the evaluation of factors associated with community-dwelling older adults’ self-healing capacity. Programs tailored to enhance self-healing capacity should be designed, implemented, and inspected regarding their effectiveness in older adults.

Exploring Inpatients' Experiences of Healing and Healing Spaces: A Mixed Methods Study

In order to understand a patient’s healing experience it is essential to understand the elements that they, the patient, believes contributed to their healing. Previous research has focused on symptom reducers or contributors through environment such as stress. A person’s experience of healing happens over time not instantaneous. Therefore, in this study, the interviews with patients happened after forty-eight hours of hospitalization. This mixed methods study describes the experiences of seventeen inpatients from two healthcare systems using a phenomenological approach combined with evidence based design evaluation methods to document the setting. The qualitative data was analyzed first for reoccurring themes then further explored and defined through quantitative environmental observations. The seventeen patients defined healing as “getting better/well.” Seventy three statements were recorded about contributors and detractors to healing in the physical environment. Three primary themes emerged from the data as positive influencers of a healing experience: being cared for, being comfortable and experiencing something familiar or like home. These results demonstrate that patients perceive their inpatient healing experience through a supported environment.

What is "Healing"?: Reflections on Diagnostic Criteria, Nosology, and Etiology

This article examines the conceptual history and contemporary usages of the term "healing." In response to longstanding definitional ambiguity, reflections are offered on what are termed the diagnostic criteria, nosology, and etiology of healing. First, a summary is provided of how healing has been defined within medicine. Second, the dimensionality of healing is discussed. Third, healing's putative determinants are outlined. For biomedicine, healing mainly concerns repair of wounds or lesions and is unidimensional. For complementary medicine, by contrast, healing has been defined alternatively as an intervention, an outcome, and a process-or all of these at once-and is multidimensional, impacting multiple systems from the cellular to the psychosocial and beyond. Notwithstanding these usages, a review of medical texts reveals that healing is rarely defined, nor is its dimensionality or determinants described. Persistent lack of critical attention to the meaning of "healing" has implications for medical research and practice.

Exploring the Concept of Healing Spaces

Evidence-based design (EBD) research has demonstrated the power of environmental design to support improved patient, family, and staff outcomes and to minimize or avoid harm in healthcare settings. While healthcare has primarily focused on fixing the body, there is a growing recognition that our healthcare system could do more by promoting overall wellness, and this requires expanding the focus to healing. This article explores how we can extend what we know from EBD about health impacts of spatial design to the more elusive goal of healing. By breaking the concept of healing into antecedent components (emotional, psychological, social, behavioral, and functional), this review of the literature presents the existing evidence to identify how healthcare spaces can foster healing. The environmental variables found to directly affect or facilitate one or more dimension of healing were organized into six groups of variables—homelike environment, access to views and nature, light, noise control, barrier-free environment, and room layout. While there is limited scientific research confirming design solutions for creating healing spaces, the literature search revealed relationships that provide a basis for a draft definition. Healing spaces evoke a sense of cohesion of the mind, body, and spirit. They support healing intention and foster healing relationships.