Focus on optimal health, not ideal health

Providers strive to help patients live the best, healthiest life they are capable of living. However, those efforts should involve a careful assessment of what the patient’s optimal health status is. It is deleterious to the therapeutic relationship to drive a patient towards a health status they are not able to attain. This article provides a brief commentary on the author’s experience as a patient to illustrate this point.
Related content
-
Environment & Hospitality | Patient Family & Community Engagement
Reading2Connect®: An Innovation to Improve the Social-Emotional Wellbeing of Long-Term Care Residents
Supported by a grant from The Beryl Institute, Ascension Senior Living set out to quantitatively measure if they could improve wellness and well-being for residents living with dementia through reading activities that promote social interaction. By implementing the Reading2Connect Social Engagement Program, long-term care residents at Ascension found greater quality of life through illustrated books
Learn more -
Patient Family & Community Engagement
From Trauma to Transformation: Accident Victim Uses Her Experience to Improve Healthcare
When an accident took Nicole Rakowski from her administrative role at Hamilton Health Services to being a patient, she gained a unique perspective on patient experience and was inspired to make a difference.
Learn more -
Patient Family & Community Engagement | Staff & Provider Engagement
How an intake conversation in mental healthcare nearly led to suicide
Learn more