Models of Health for Health and Social Care

The biomedical model of medicine has been around since the mid-nineteenth century as the predominant model used by physicians in diagnosing diseases. According to the biomedical model, health constitutes the freedom from disease, pain, or defect, thus making the normal human condition “healthy”. The model’s focus on the physical processes, such as the pathology, the biochemistry and the physiology of a disease, does not take into account the role of social factors or individual subjectivity. The model also overlooks the fact that the diagnosis (that will effect treatment of the patient) is a result of negotiation between doctor and patient. It is however very limiting. By not taking into account society in general, the prevention of disease is omitted. Many diseases affecting first world countries nowadays, such as heart disease and type 2 diabetes mellitus are very much dependent on a person’s actions and beliefs The biopsychosocial model of health:

The biopsychosocial model (abbreviated “BPS”) is a general model or approach that posits that biological, psychological (which entails thoughts, emotions, and behaviours), and social factors, all play a significant role in human functioning in the context of disease or illness. Indeed, health is best understood in terms of a combination of biological, psychological, and social factors rather than purely in biological terms.] This is in contrast to the traditional, reductionist biomedical model of medicine that suggests every disease process can be explained in terms of an underlying deviation from normal function such as a pathogen, genetic or developmental abnormality, or injury. The concept is used in fields such as medicine, nursing, health psychology and sociology, and particularly in more specialist fields such as psychiatry, health psychology, chiropractic, clinical social work, and clinical psychology. The biopsychosocial paradigm is also a technical term for the popular concept of the mind–body connection, which addresses more philosophical arguments between the biopsychosocial and biomedical models, rather than their empirical exploration and clinical application. Taken from Wikipeadia