Newman's Health as Expanding Consciousness arose from Rogers' Theory of Unitary Human Beings.

It was
stimulated by concern for those for whom health as the absence of disease or disability is simply not
possible. The model has progressed to include the health of all people, regardless of the presence or
absence of disease. Newman's theory asserts that every person in every situation, no matter how
disordered and hopeless it seems, is part of the universal process of expanding consciousness. This is a
process of becoming more of oneself, of finding greater meaning in life, and of reaching new dimensions
of connectedness with other people, as well as the world.
The theory of health as expanding consciousness stems from Rogers' theory of Unitary Human Beings.
Rogers' assumptions regarding patterning of persons in interaction with the environment are basic to the
view that consciousness is a manifestation of an evolving pattern of person-environment
interaction...Consciousness includes not only the cognitive and affective awareness normally associated
with consciousness, but also the interconnectedness of the entire living system, which includes
physiochemical maintenance and growth processes as well as the immune system. This pattern of
information, which is the consciousness of the system, is part of a larger, undivided pattern of an
expanding universe.
Newman’s theory of pattern recognition provides the basis for the process of nurse-client interaction.
Newman suggested that the task in intervention is a pattern recognition accomplished by the health
professional becoming aware of the pattern of the other person by becoming in touch with their own
pattern. Newman suggested that the professional should focus on the pattern of the other person, acting
as the “reference beam in a hologram”.
Margaret A. Newman was influenced by Martha Rogers' Theory of Unitary Human Beings, Itzhak Bentov's
Concept of the Evolution of Consciousness, Arthur Young's Theory of Process, and David Bohm's Theory
of Implicate as she developed her model of nursing.
The Health as Expanding Consciousness theory makes the following assumptions:

 Health encompasses conditions described as illness, or, in medical terms, pathology.

 These pathological conditions can be considered a manifestation of the total pattern of the
patient.
 The pattern of the individual patient that eventually manifests itself as pathology is primary, and
exists prior to structural or functional changes.
 Removal of pathology will not, in itself, change the pattern of the individual patient.
 If becoming ill is the only way an individual patient's pattern is able to manifest itself, then that is
health for that individual patient.
 Health is an expansion of consciousness.
According to Newman, "the theory of health as expanding consciousness was stimulated by concern for
those for whom health as the absence of disease or disability is not possible. Nurses often relate to such
people: people facing the uncertainty, debilitation, loss and eventual death associated with chronic illness.
The theory has progressed to include the health of all persons regardless of the presence or absence of
disease. The theory asserts that every person in every situation, no matter how disordered and hopeless
it may seem, is part of the universal process of expanding consciousness - a process of becoming more of
oneself, of finding greater meaning in life, and of reaching new dimensions of connectedness with other
people and the world."
Patients are open to the whole energy system of the universe, as well as constantly interacting with the
energy. This process of interaction allows people to evolve their individual patterns of whole. According
to Newman, understanding the patient's pattern is essential. The pattern recognition is the expanding
consciousness. The manifestation of disease depends on the pattern of the patient, so the pathology of
the diseases exists before the symptoms begin to appear. Because of this, removal of the disease
symptoms does not change the individual structure.
Newman redefines nursing according to her nursing process of recognizing the individual in relation to
the environment, and it is a process of the understanding of consciousness. The nurse's understanding of
people helps them use the power within to develop the higher level of consciousness. Therefore, it helps
to realize the disease process, its recovery, and its prevention.
She also explains the interrelatedness of time, space, and movement. Time and space are the temporal
pattern of the patient, and they have a complementary relationship. People are constantly changing
through time and space, and it shows a unique pattern of reality.
The theory explains that health and illness are synthesized as health. That is, the fusion of one state of
being (disease) with its opposite (non-disease) results in what can be considered health. In this model, the
human is unitary. He or she cannot be divided into parts, and is inseparable from the larger unitary field.
People are individuals, and human beings are, as a species, identified by their patterns of consciousness.
The person does not possess consciousness. Instead, the person is consciousness. People are centers of
consciousness with an overall pattern of expanding consciousness. The environment is described as a
"universe of open systems."
In this model, nursing is "caring in the human health experience." It is seen as a partnership between the
nurse and patient, with both growing in the "sense of higher levels of consciousness."
Newman's theory is considered a grand nursing theory. She states that people cannot be divided into
parts. Health is central to the theory, and is seen as a process of a developing awareness of the individual
self and the person's environment. She also states that "consciousness is a manifestation of an evolving
pattern of person-environment interaction."
Newman's Health as Expanding Consciousness Theory is beneficial because it can be applied in any setting
and "generates caring interventions." However, its drawbacks are that it is abstract, multidimensional,
and qualitative, and there is little discussion on environment within the model.

Relationship to the Metaparadigm Concepts

Newman has designated “caring in the human health experience” as the focus of nursing discipline and
has specified the focus as the metaparadigm of the discipline.
Nursing
-to help clients get in touch with the meaning of their lives by the identification of their patterns of relating
-Intervention is a form of non-intervention whereby the nurse’s presence assists clients to recognize their
own patterns of interacting with the environment.
-facilitates pattern recognition in clients by forming relationships with them at critical points n their lives
and connecting with them in an authentic way.
-The nurse-client relationship is characterized by “a rhythmic coming together and moving apart as clients
encounter disruption of their organized predictable state.”
-Nurses are seen as partners in the process of expanding consciousness.
Person
-Person as individuals are identified by their individual patterns of consciousness.
-Persons are further defined as “centers of consciousness” within an overall pattern of expanding
consciousness”
-The definition of person has also been expanded to include family and community.
Environment
-Environment is not explicitly defined but is described as being the larger whole, which is beyond the
consciousness of the individual.
Health
-A fusion of disease and non-disease creates a synthesis that is regarded as health.
-Disease and non-disease are each reflections of the larger whole; therefore a new concept “pattern of
the whole” is formed.
-Newman has stated that pattern recognition is the essence of the emerging health. Manifest health,
encompassing disease and non-disease can be regarded as the explication of the underlying pattern of
person-environment.
Essence of Margaret Newman's Theory:
• An individual person in each situation, no matter how disordered and hopeless, is part of the universal
process of expanding consciousness.
• The expanding consciousness is a process wherein an individual becomes more of his real self, as he
finds greater meaning in his life and the lives of those people around him.
• In his/her search for his/her real self, the individual's awareness expands to include the interests of
those people around him and the rest of the world.
• Self-awareness may eventually lead to acceptance of one's self and one's circumstances and limitations.
• With self-awareness and self-acceptance, an in-depth understanding of one's condition may pave the
way for a person to engage into activities leading to positive progression transcending
Supporting Theory
• The health of a human being is a unitary phenomenon, an evolving pattern of human-environment
(Rogers, 1970).
• Life is a process of expanding consciousness. Consciousness is the informational capacity of the system
and can be seen in the quality of interaction of the system with the environment (Bentov, 1978).
• The explicate order is a manifestation of the implicate order (Bohm, 1980).
Assumptions
1. Health encompasses conditions heretofore described as illness, or, in medical terms, pathology
2. These pathological conditions can be considered a manifestation of the total pattern of the individual
3. The pattern of the individual that eventually manifests itself as pathology is primary and exists prior to
structural or functional changes
4. Removal of the pathology in itself will not change the pattern of the indivdual
5. If becoming ill is the only way an individual's pattern can manifest itself, then that is health for that
person
6. Health is an expansion of consciousness.
Critique
Clarity
Semantic clarity is evident in the definitions, descriptions, and dimensions of the concepts of the theory.
Simplicity
The deeper meaning of the theory of health as expending consciousness is complex. The theory as a whole
must be understood, nut just the isolated concepts. If an individual wanted to use a positivist approach,
Newman’s original propositions would serve as guides for hypothesis development. However, researchers
who tried that approach have concluded that it is inadequate to study the theory. As Newman have
advocated in the 1994 edition of her book, Health as Expanding Consciousness, the holistic approach of
the hermeneutic dialectic method is consistent with the theory and requires a high level of understanding
the theory in praxis research.
Generality
The concepts in Newman’s theory are broad in scope because they all relate to health. The theory has
been applied in several different cultures and is applicable across the spectrum of nursing care situations.
This renders her theory generalizable.
Empirical Precision
In the early stages of development, aspects of the theory were operationalized and tested within a
traditional scientific method. However, quantitative methods are inadequate in capturing the dynamic,
changing nature of this theory.
Derivable Consequences
The focus of Newman’s theory of health as expanding consciousness provides an evolving guide for all
health-related disciplines. In the quest for understanding the phenomenon of health, this unique view of
health challenges nurses to make a difference in nursing practice by the application of this theory.