The Roy Adaptation Model

The Roy Adaptation Model

Roy began work on her theory in the 1960s. She drew from existing work of a physiological psychologist, and behavioral, systems and role theorists. She was keenly interested in the psycho/social aspects of the person from the start and concentrated her education on this aspect of Person. Thus, the language/thinking of psychology and sociology became second nature to her. The need for intense study of the language and ideas behind Roy's Adaptation Model is its biggest drawback in applying it to many clinical areas. The confusion in the physiological mode's categories could be explained by her concentrating on the psych social during her education.

In 1980, Roy and Reihl advocated a single unified model of nursing and suggested this would insure stability of the discipline of nursing. They maintained concepts and propositions of other models could be combined in summary statements related to person, goals of nursing and the nursing process.

According to Fawcett, this position is a simplistic solution to a difficult problem. Nursing, with its limited experience with metaparadigms and conceptual models, is not ready for restrictions on its ways of thinking. It's my belief that this act of advocating a single unified model was an act of multi-oppressed thinking influenced by men, the Roman Catholic Church and the medical world.

During a 1987 conference of nursing theorists, Sister Roy made a number of deferring remarks to a speech made earlier by a male Bishop.

Fawcett also says the Roy Adaptation Model has an extensive vocabulary and that some familiar words (ie adaption) have been given new meanings in Roy's attempt to translate mechanistic ideas into organismic ones.

Oppressed Group Behaviour:

-assimilating the values and characteristics of the Oppressors. -Nursing leaders represent an elite group promoted because of their allegiance to maintaining the status quo. -leaders of Oppressed Groups are controlling, coercive and rigid.

Oppressors:

-education is important to maintaining the status quo. -Roy's Model follows the

Medical Model and tends to be Totalitarian and therefore is familiar to Medicine

- they would want to encourage it. -behaviour preferred by Oppressors is rewarded. -token appeasement (approval) is given to halt change or revolt.

The contributions of this conceptual model are that it will lead to more systematic assessments of clients and an increased quality of nursing practice.

It could foster nursing knowledge through organized research and it could provide a more organized curriculum.

Roy's definition of person

Roy defines the person as an Adaptive Open System. The Systems' Input is: a) three classes of stimuli: focal, contextual and residual, within and without the system and b) the systems' adaptation level or range of stimuli in