The most effective continuum is the recovery to wellness journey. In our experience, everything is a process and there are no quick fixes to recovery. Most continuums depict the relationship between you, your family and the community at large. These continuums can also measure where you are in your recovery process. There are relationships that fall under different areas of the Continuum. e.g The continuum of care from addiction treatment to outpatient to reintegration into society. It is very beneficial to be aware of your position in this relational space in different environments.
We have spoken about the Jellinek Curve earlier in this courseware which explains the continuum from a culture of addiction to the culture of recovery. Now we are going to be exploring the various other continuums you get. The Illness - wellness continuum was developed by Travis and Jon Ardell about 20 years ago.
They acknowledged that one does not have to be disease-free or strong to be in a state of wellness. Travis and Jon both discovered that people who may be disabled or in pain can still pursue a state of wellness. This wellness paradigm does not replace the treatment continuum but works in harmony with it Don Ardell states “Wellness is the actualisation of your true psychophysical/spiritual potential”. Maslow’s notion of wellness is growth towards the integration of mind, body and spirit. To explain the Maslow theory, a better description would be the spiral model, the end point is never the end it is just a continual movement of up or down.
