Concept Of Resilience

HLSC111 – Resilience Essay

Discuss the concept of resilience, including factors that contribute to resilience for health care consumers and health professionals.

This essay will discuss the concept of resilience and include factors that contribute to resilience for health care consumers and health professionals. Resilience can be simply defined as the ability to adapt well. It is a quality that has been studied and researched to decide whether it’s achievable by anyone or if people are simply born with it. It has been discovered that it is a quality that takes time and circumstance to fully develop. People’s ability to be resilient and develop this quality is affected by environment, social and family factors. Research has shown that some level

The change or adaptation needs to be healthy and helpful. For example, someone may need to change their locus of control in order to become more resilient in a particular situation. As mentioned before, resilience is a quality that takes time and circumstance to fully develop (Margaret O’Dougherty Wright, 2005). Some people can be more biologically geared towards being resilient, but psychological and environmental factors have a stronger effect on the development of resilience in an individual. Individuals who obtain resilience are able to determine what coping strategies to use and when to use them. Coping strategies are behavioural responses, thought and emotional processes that people use to deal with stress (Diehl, 2012). There are two different types of coping strategies; problem focused and emotion focused. They are both efforts to change circumstances or the interpretation of stressors to make them more favourable and less threatening. Research has proven that resilience and coping strategies can be developed and adopted throughout the lifetime of any individual (Lian,

In order to support/help and teach their patients to develop resilience, they too need to be resilient and put coping strategies in place. “Research suggests that nurses can actively participate in the development and strengthening of their own personal resilience to reduce their vulnerability to workplace adversity and thus improve the overall healthcare setting.” (Jackson, 2007) The resilience of healthcare professionals is important and impacts the overall health care setting. Healthcare professionals can support patients in their development of resilience by encouraging their engagement in support groups, empathizing, encouraging them and helping them see their strengths, therefore developing a positive self-concept. Also offering relatable and encouraging survivor stories and showing them they are not alone and can make it through (Stanhope, 2010). Other strategies that can be put in place and discussed with the patient, in order to develop resilience, are relaxation techniques which help reduce stress and also coping strategies. Research has shown that having a strong and connected social network has a big impact on the health and wellbeing of people. It’s important to also encourage the involvement of the family and the patient’s social networks to support them and be part of their care (Christakis2, 2008). This reduces vulnerability and risk and overall increases