The Roy's Adaptation Model
Like other professions, the field of nursing is founded and guided by many theories and models. Day and Benner (2002) defined a theory as coherent, organized, and systematic sets of statements that govern the operations within a given field. While there are multiple theories in nursing, this paper focuses on the Roy Adaptation Model of Nursing. Advanced by Callista Roy, this theory views a person as being an adaptive system or being who is in continuous interaction with both micro (internal) and macro (external) environments. In the view of Day and Benner (2002), the primary responsibility of the adaptive human system is to ensure the maintenance of integrity within the fast changing environment.
According to Ordin, Karayurt, and Wellard, (2012), the adaptation of the human system is the process whereby rational individuals or groups of persons make use of their conscious and conscience in the creation of environmental and human integration. The process of adaptation results in not only optimal health conditions but also quality life, dignified death, and well-being of the human population (Eccles, Grimshaw, Walker, Johnston, & Pitts, 2005). Acting on the consideration that adaptation is a representation of life processes, Roy identified three classifications or levels of adaptation as integrated, compromised, and compensatory life processes. In the process of attempting to re-establish proper adaptation, there is always a shift between integrated and compensatory life processes. However, the inadequacy of the compensatory processes often results in compromised processes (Day & Benner, 2002).
The Roy's Adaptation Model is composed of key components which include nursing, environment, health, and persons. The model views an individual as being a bio-psycho-social creature, which constantly interacts with different elements within the changing surrounding. According to Roy, the person has to rely on acquired as well as the innate mechanism in order to adapt to the environment, thereby enhancing their chances of survival. The model focuses on individuals, groups, families, communities, the society, and organizations that attempt to familiarize themselves with the environment within which they live (Azarmi & Farsi, 2015).
The Roy's Adaptation Model of Nursing considers health as being an inevitable component of human survival in the dynamic environment. This dimension gets represented by traditional health-illness continuums. It is also part of the processes of human integration, hence the need to focus on health. The environment, on the other hand, that humans have to adapt to, is divided into three major components. They encompass the focal, contextual, and the residual components. The focal aspect of the environment represents the external and immediate surroundings of a person. The residual environmental component is characterized by uncertainties concerning the possible effects on the environment. The contextual component, on the other hand, represents the stimuli responses to environmental changes.
Frederickson (2011) found that all circumstances and conditions within the surrounding have significant impacts on the behavioral aspects of people. In particular, such elements influence human development processes. Moreover, they impact on the mutuality of the human population as well as the natural resources that people depend on for survival.
Roy's Adaptation Model incorporates two subsystems. One of them is the cognator subsystem, which represents the primary coping processes. The process entails the four conventional cognitive-emotive channels such as emotion, information and perceptual processing, judgment, and learning. The other one is the regulator subsystem, which is the adaptive component responsible for initiating the automatic response to the environmental changes through endocrine, chemical, and neural coping channels (Čaušević & Ramšak Pajk, 2014). The Roy's Adaptation Model can be represented as shown below.
According to this model, behaviors can be categorized into four adaptive modes namely physiologic-physical, self-concept group identity, interdependence, and role function modes. The physiologic-physical mode focuses on the behavioral activities of the body organs, cells, and other body systems (Azarmi & Farsi, 2015). Self-concept-group identity mode entails the aspects of human physical self, such as body image, sensation, self-consistency, and the spiritual self. The interdependence mode entails interaction elements such as love, value, and respect. The role function mode, on the other hand, deals with roles played by individuals in the society or within a given group (Frederickson, 2011).