Margaret Newman: Theory of Health as Expanding Consciousness

Theory of Health as Expanding Consciousness

MARGARET NEWMAN

Margaret Newman was born on October 10, 1933 in Memphis, Tennessee. Her mother was a secretary at Baptist Church – thus Dr. Newman was raised in a Christian community. It influenced her decision to join missionary service later in life; there she realized for the first time she could not address people’s spiritual needs without attempting to take care of their physical needs as well. Newman did not choose a nursing major after high school. However, it appeared that one of her roommates at the college was a nursing student who once was asked to assist injured victims after a huge tornado. 

It made Newman to think over a nursing career for herself again. Later she had to come back home when she learned her mother was diagnosed with a chronic irreversible health condition – amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. She decided to become a primary caregiver for her mother. Newman realized that “simply having a chronic disease does not make a person unhealthy” (Parker& Smith, 2010, p. 291).

 Newman became convinced that her mother could still experience health in spite of her having degenerative neurological disease; she formulated that her mother’s life was “confined” by the condition but not “defined” by it. Both mother and daughter developed great connectedness and came to know each other better and deeper than before. This experience helped Margaret Newman to make her final decision – to come back to school again to become a nurse.

Margaret Newman is a prominent nursing theorist and leader. She was recognized for creating Theory of Health as Expanding Human Consciousness in 1978; her theory greatly influenced the nursing perspective on health, illness and human consciousness.

METAPARADIGM

Person 

• “The human is unitary, that is cannot be divided into parts, and is inseparable from the larger unitary field”
• “Persons as individuals, and human beings as a species are identified by their patterns of consciousness”…
• “The person does not possess consciousness-the person is consciousness”.
• Persons are  “centers of consciousness” within an overall pattern of expanding consciousness” 

Humans are "open energy systems in constant interaction with the environment". Humans are identified by their patterns of consciousness. Its definition is expanded to incorporate family and community. Newman's theory suggests that all humans are able to expand their level of consciousness by deriving meaning from their patterns of interaction with the environment.

Health

• “Health and illness are synthesized as health - the fusion on one state of being (disease) with its opposite (non-disease) results in what can be regarded as health”.

The theory assumes that disease is not separated from health and that disease should not be looked as a negative but as "part of the self-organizing process of expanding consciousness". Disease and illness can be considered the manifestation of an individual pattern.

Environment

• Environment is described as a “universe of open systems”.

Environment is viewed as an open system such as the event, situation, or phenomena with which a person interacts. Patterns of consciousness is revealed through person-environment interactions. Newman proposes that the way for the nurses to understand the individual's patterns of relating to the environment.

Nursing

• Nursing is “caring in the human health experience”.
• Nursing is seen as a partnership between the nurse and client, with both grow in the “sense of higher levels of consciousness”

The goal of nursing is to facilitate the client's pattern recognition process to lead to a higher level of consciousness. The nurse helps the client to find meaning in their life experience no matter what their 'health state' is. The nurse job is not to 'fix' the client but rather assist in their awareness of their patterns of interaction.

ASSUMPTIONS

Philosophical & Scientific

1. Health encompasses conditions heretofore described as illness, or, in medical terms, pathology 
2. These pathological conditions can be considered a manifestation of the total pattern of the individual
3. The pattern of the individual that eventually manifests itself as pathology is primary and exists prior to structural or functional changes
4. Removal of the pathology in itself will not change the pattern of the indivdual 
5. If becoming ill is the only way an individual's pattern can manifest itself, then that is health for that person 
6. Health is an expansion of consciousness. 

How was the theory used in two research studies?

The Theory of Health as Expanding Consciousness was used in two research studies. 

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The first one was in Japan. The purpose of the study was to apply Newman's theory in family care-giving situations in mental illness in Japan. The researcher chose the methodology of Newman's theory of health as expanding consciousness because of the good fit between Newman's model and the Japanese mindset. The study has provided support for the propositions the researcher had entertained prior to embarking on the field study. Newman's theory of health as praxis proved to be a viable methodology for this population in Japan. The findings support the premise of Newman's theory of the person-environment interaction patterns. As a result of pattern viewing, the majority of the participants in the study saw possibilities for action and decided to act themselves or on behalf of their sick relatives.

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The second was in Kenya. Margaret Newman’s Theory of Health as Expanding Consciousness is considered a grand nursing theory, she described a process of becoming more of oneself, of finding greater meaning in life, and of reaching new dimensions of connectedness with other people and the world. Nurses in Kenya have mostly used the psychosocial-medical model to nurse HIV infected patients which fails to answer many of the nursing concerns and reduces their autonomy in carrying out nursing care. Newman’s theory proposed that: Health is not lack of illness, or a process to become healthy from being ill, but it instead the expansion of consciousness as a result of choices made within the context of patterns of behavior. Methodology: This mini review was an evolving emergent design. Slightly adapted ‘Advanced Theory in Nursing’ coursework materials were used. The greatest resource were referrals to links and hints as offered by those who got interested in the study. A best cased scenario is appended. Conclusion: Newman’s Theory of Health as Expanding Consciousness is therefore a generic tool applicable to guide psychosocial nursing care of clients infected with HIV. It would be a great resource with a potential to evidenced based nursing care. It would provide a basis for several case studies. Nurses find more fulfilment in their work by utilizing a nursing theory.

By: Hannah Sofia L. Magdato & Gem Alecz G. Marzan

Reference

• Current Nursing. (2011, November 14). Health As Expanding Consciousness. Retrieved from http://currentnursing.com/nursing_theory/Newman_Health_As_Expanding_Consciousness.html

• Ombewa J., Gonchar N., Suddreth T., and Minlend T. (2014, March 29) Margaret Newman’s Theory-Health as Expanding Consciousness. Retrieved from https://sites.google.com/site/margaretnewmanprojectuncc/theorist-s-biography

• Miller, C. (2015, April 10). Margaret Newman. Retrieved from https://prezi.com/rrqlmbaqxory/margaret-newman/

• Yamashita M. (1998 Fall). Newman's theory of health as expanding consciousness: research on family caregiving in mental illness in Japan. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9923326

• Kamau, S. (2015, January). Applying Margaret Newman’s theory of health as expanding consciousness to psychosocial nursing care of HIV infected patients in Kenya. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/267857087_Applying_Margaret_Newman's_theory_of_health_as_expanding_consciousness_to_psychosocial_nursing_care_of_HIV_infected_patients_in_Kenya