The concept of Positive Health Care of Bannink and Jansen differentiates, like the philosophy of science, two complementary ways to make the world and life comprehensible: The way of analysis and the way of synthesis. One paradigm goes inwards and towards the past, the other goes outwards and towards the future.

The conventional medical model follows the pathway of analysis. Examination, diagnosis and treatment take center stage. Less attention is usually paid to synthesis, or implementation. How to be useful for our patients is often less or not elaborated at all.

The solution-focused model is all about implementation. What does the preferred future of the patient look like? It focuses on designing and realizing an outcome that was not there before, and finding what works for this patient, in this context, at this moment. The two solution-focused assumptions are:

• if something works, do more of it;
• if something does not work, stop and do something else.

Examination and diagnosis can be included, but are not necessary.

Positive health care adds the solution-focused model to the medical model. Much attention is paid to everything that works in patients’ lives and how they can make progress.

“Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.”

Søren Kierkegaard

This website offers the latest information about Positive Health Care. We invite everyone to respond and to think along with how this can be further developed.