Optimal Healing Environments

The following excerpt is from an article which can be found at this link. Throughout my blogs, I will refer to which healing environments I am targeting. One must consider all constructs (Internal, Interpersonal, Behavioural and External) when striving for optimal healing. The optimal healing environment is more than the sum of its parts. Whilst this is paramount, I will predominantly focus on the External Environment since there is a considerable gap in the translation from research to its practical application in everyday life for anyone wanting to create an optimal healing environment.

INTERNAL ENVIRONMENT

Healing Intention: A conscious and benevolent mental activity (thought) purposefully directed toward health, wellbeing, healing, or highest good for one's self or another. Healing intention is manifest in the care setting in various ways, including setting intentions, prayer, and assessing patient hopes and expectations for healing and incorporating those hopes into the plan of care.

Personal Wholeness: The congruence of mind, body, and spirit, experienced through relationship with self and others, resulting in completeness and wellbeing. Mind-body-spirit congruence is enhanced through mind-body practices and interventions and attending to spirituality.

INTERPERSONAL ENVIRONMENT

Healing Relationships: Healing relationships are the connections between persons who hold an intention for healing to occur. The attributes that distinguish a healing relationship from other positive relationships are that the connection is intentional and covenantal in nature and the connection involves positive emotional engagement and provides mutual benefit.

Healing Organizations: Healing organizations are driven by a mission to promote healing and health creation. They provide appropriate structures, processes, and resources to stimulate and support healing through intention, relationships, person-centered strategic planning and shared decision-making. Healing organisations optimise the potential for wellbeing of their employees and the people they serve.

BEHAVIORAL ENVIRONMENT

Healthy Lifestyles: A healthy lifestyle involves making choices in diet, activity, relaxation, stress reduction and sleep that create and maintain health. A healthy lifestyle is a way of life that optimises potential for maximal healthy life years.

Integrative Care: Integrative care is team-based care that is person-focused and family-centered and incorporates multidisciplinary care providers at their highest skill level. Integrative care blends the best of complementary therapies with conventional medicine in order to enhance self-care skills and ameliorate suffering.

EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT

Healing Spaces: Healing spaces incorporate evidence-based design and healing principles to optimise and improve the quality of care, outcomes, and experiences of patients and staff. Healing spaces use physical design to enhance the individual's innate healing potential.

Ecological Sustainability: Organisations and individuals can foster ecological sustainability by reducing their footprint and supporting the health of the planet. The chemical impact and energy use of their operations is considered. Products or practices that are resource-intensive can be replaced with more ecologically friendly, less harmful, and cruelty-free alternatives.

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