Margaret Newman Theory Of Disease

According to Smith (2011), Margaret Newman’s Health as Expanding Consciousness Theory of 1978 asserts that “every person in every situation, no matter how disordered and hopeless it seems, is part of the universal process of expanding consciousness. This is a process of becoming more of oneself, of finding greater meaning in life, and of reaching new dimensions of connectedness with other people, as well as the world.”

Newman’s grand nursing theory stated that people with or without chronic conditions could be labeled as healthy, and that having a disease does not necessarily make an individual unhealthy (1986). According to Newman (1986), disease is a manifestation of people’s patterns. These patterns include our genetic makeup, bodily changes,

The only way to fully understand an individual’s health status is to understand the individual’s patterns of relating to the environment (Newman, 1994). In a study conducted by Hayes et al. (2014), a questionnaire was developed to identify a pattern between certain foods and onset of specific symptoms, and whether participants perceived the dietary changes to result in symptom improvement. Similar research showed that knowledge of these patterns enhanced dietary management strategies for both patient and healthcare provider (Mullin et al., 2014). People continually move toward expanded consciousness, however, when an individual becomes aware that old habits no longer work, new answers must be sought (Smith, 2011). Case in point, research by Lindfors et al. (2012), revealed patients with unmanageable IBS in reference to diet modifications responded well to gut-directed hypnotherapy. Ultimately, IBS is characterized by a group of bothersome gastrointestinal symptoms and can respond to a range of therapies. Actions made by a healthcare team, nurses, and the patient can help to identify overall treatment goals for IBS, and can continue to help the patients “transcend” their current state

Through identification of problematic patterns, participants will realize that their way of treating themselves for IBS symptom relief are no longer working. The participants will have an opportunity to transcend as a whole, resulting in the alleviation of IBS symptoms and reductions of problematic patterns. Following Newman’s theory, distinguishable relationships will be established between the participants and the nurse nutritionist or the nurse certified to perform the gut-directed