This study of person-environment patterns of people with coronary heart disease was undertaken as an explication of Margaret Newman's theory of health as expanding consciousness. A method of cooperative inquiry was used involving eleven clients in a cardiac rehabilitation center, a cardiovascular nursing specialist, and the investigators. The clients were asked to describe the most meaningful times in their lives. Narratives of the evolving patterns based on the clients' descriptions were confirmed or revised by the clients. Similarities among patterns were supportive of some of the previously reported behaviors associated with coronary heart disease: the need to excel, a tendency to be repressed and externally controlled. Differences between individuals were explained by their position on Arthur Young's spectrum of human development. The mutual process of pattern recognition engaged in by nursing researchers and clients is seen as a model for practice.
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