##  [Mishel's Uncertainty in Illness Theory](/mishels-uncertainty-illness-theory) 

  ##  [Mishel's Uncertainty in Illness Theory](https://health.quantumdictionary.io/mishels-uncertainty-illness-theory-0) 

  

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**Health & Life Sciences Dictionary**

 







 

 

 

 



 

 

 

 

Definition

A theoretical framework describing how patients experience uncertainty in illness when events, cues or outcomes are ambiguous or unpredictable; it explains that uncertainty becomes a cognitive state that patients appraise (e.g., as threat or opportunity) and then manage through information‑seeking, coping strategies and meaning‑making, with those appraisals and coping responses mediating psycholog