At a hospital, patients are always one conversation away from good or bad news. When not being rushed into treatment rooms, the sick are often left to feel stressed about their health. Healthcare workers have one of the most stressful jobs, with sudden changes in patient conditions. The general atmosphere in traditional hospitals seems tense and worrisome, and this has an adverse effect on patients’ well-being.
In the late 1970s, Aaron Antonovsky, a professor, researcher, and medical sociologist identified the aftermath of stress on health. A survivor of concentration camps, he wondered how most people constantly fighting illnesses manage to survive and stay healthy. Antonovsky shifted his research approach from disease to the origins of health, uncovering how stress and lifestyle impact health. The resulting model is called Salutogenesis, derived from ‘salus’ meaning health and ‘genesis’ meaning origin.
