search. However, to fully derive meaning from the presented model, one must deal with several fairly abstract concepts and terms. In this regard, the theory has an extensive vocabulary and some familiar words (i.e., adaption) have been given new meanings in Roy's attempt to translate mechanistic ideas into organismic ones. Moreover, often these meanings are taken from different disciplines.
The foregoing can perhaps be best seen by an examination of key notions comprising the model. The model begins with Roy's notion and postulates concerning the role of the environment in health and illness. In her initial explication of the model, Roy (1984) defined the environment as all conditions, circumstances, and influences surrounding and affecting the development and behavior of persons and groups. It was noted that the environment has both internal and external components, and is constantly changing.
Health, according to the model, results with adaptation to reach optimal levels of individual potential in meeting physical, psychosocial, and self actualization needs. The individual is said to be in constant interaction with the changing environment, and to respond positively that person must adapt.
Three classes of environmental stimuli are said to determine a person's adaptation level. These are:
1. Focal stimuli--immediate threats/confrontations.
2. Contextual stimuli--all other stimuli present that precipitated or contributed to the focal stimuli.
3. Residual stimuli--relevant factors that cannot be validated (subjective) such as beliefs or values.
The model states that the individual used both innate and acquired biological, psychological, or social adaptive mechanisms, and postulates that there is an interchange between the adaptive system (individual) and various stimuli (input) from the environment and itself. The response to stimuli (stress associated with illness) is processed through subsys...