WELLNESS MODEL

"Wellness is a connction of paths, knowledge and action." - Joshua Welch

Out of all the wellness models presented in the book, I believe that the one that should be adapted in the physical therapy practice is the Humanistic Model of Wellness.

The first reason why the HMW is the most fitting to our profession as Physical Therapists is that it contains all of the three dimensions of well-being as given by the World Health Organization which are physical, mental, and social aspects of an individual. Moreover, it also acknowledges the three domains of learning which are cognitive, psychomotor, and affective, as supported in the American Physical Therapy Association's A Normative Model of Physical Therapist Professional Education: 2004 Version. Another factor that made me decide that this is the most applicable is the usage of SWS which is an instrument to operationalize the said model and is designed to be used by a physical therapist in doing the tests and measures stage of a physical therapy examination/assessment.

Unlike the other wellness models, HMW promotes the expansion of wellness which is having a lifestyle that not only involves the internal aspect of the person but as well as his/her external aspect through the promotion of his/her physical, mental, and social health in the cognitive, psychomotor, and affective domains. In addition, it also concedes the importance of the cognitive knowledge of, the affective commitment to, and the psychomotor behaviors associated with the physical, mental, and social dimensions of wellness. Most importantly, it also emphasizes that wellness can be applied to oneself and to the other person. These things are important in physical therapy because PTs shall promote not only the individual's ability to move, reduce pain, restore function, and prevent disability (physical and psychomotor)) but also to see the patient as a human person who could feel (mental and affective) and who is relational (social) and has the capacity to know (cognitive).

The subdivisions of the physical dimension of wellness are: non-mental diseases and medical conditions, drugs, nutrition, aerobic capacity, muscular fitness, flexibility, and body composition. 

In terms of the mental dimension of wellness, its subdivisions are: mental diseases and conditions, intellectual stimulation, emotions, etc.

And lastly, the subdivisions of the social dimension of wellness are: ethics, family, community, environment, provision of physical therapy, occupational wellness, etc. 

A sub-dimension of one dimension could overlap the other's sub-dimension which supports the holistic concept of the mind-body connection. Through this, PTs could improve patient outcomes and satisfaction if they strategize to enhance one or more sub-dimensions and address the disease or medical condition that begun the plan of care.

In conclusion, HMW is the wellness model that should be adapted in the PT profession because in treating a patient, physical therapists should should give a holistic plan of care to the patient which encompasses all 3 dimensions of wellness: physical, mental, and social (which the HMW possesses). The physical therapist must improve a patient's movement; the PT must also eliminate any mental illnesses or problems (depression, anxiety, etc.) a patient feels from his/her disability; and lastly, the PT must make the patient back to normal in order for him/her to do their functional roles in society. And to attain this, we, physical therapists, must apply what we know and what our patient could and couldn't do while having the heart and passion to serve them.