A model of health environmental integration

Abstract

The spheres of health environmental integration (HEI) combine contemporary models of disease and disability and expand them with historic theories of the mind/body relationship. The basic premise is that neither the person nor his or her neurological sequelae can be characterized fully without viewing the environment as a dynamic system of which he or she and it are a part. Stroke rehabilitation based on such an integrative medical model could facilitate the health professional's understanding of how alternative treatments affect the patient's quality of life and experiences within environmental contexts.