What is salutogenesis?

Salutogenesis is the branch of medicine that studies the genesis of health. While studying the onset of diseases, Aaron Antonovsky was the first one to wonder whether there was a way to identify what generates human health. This way, Antonovsky theorised the Sense of Coherence (SOC) of the individual, what determines their individual capacity to cooperate with stress in life.

The SOC is made up of three factors:

1. Understanding of what is happening to me
2. Sense of control of my reality, sense of event predictability
3. Personal motivation, deeper meaning inherent in my reality.

Every time we find ourselves facing a difficult situation, we can evaluate our coping level and understand whether we have the resource we need to overcome that difficulty in ourselves, whether we need to strengthen them or we need an external help: exogenous resources. Exogenous resources can be found within our environment: they are our positive relationships, the natural environment that nurtures us, the social system we live in, the community. Healthcare professionals are also exogenous resources, as far as health is concerned.

A good stress activates us to overcome difficulties, allowing us to reemerge stronger than before, more oriented, more aware. The one we produce when facing a difficulty is a transformative coping. We will no longer be the same person we were before that adverse circumstance: we transformed, turning the event is a personal growth opportunity.

A too acute or too prolonged stress for our SOC turns into distress and may cause emotional-, psychic-, physical- and immune weakening. In this case, the coping is a regressive coping, which makes us shut ourselves down, refuse change and evolution with it, stop in one place and stay still.

The goals of the salutogenic approach are to:

• Identify the person’s SOC
• Identify the endogenous- and exogenous resources
• Strengthen the endogenous resources
• If needed, help the person activate their exogenous resources

The salutogenic approach values health and its strengthening. The person is the centre, together with their past. The environment cannot be overlooked. This is way salutogenesis is ideal for Midwifery Care.