Bio-Psychosocial Model of Health and Illness
BIO-PSYCHOSOCIAL MODEL OF HEALTH AND ILLNESS
INTRODUCTION
The medical model has been the predominant approach used by physicians in diagnosing and management of diseases and illness in most Western countries. The biomedical model of illness and healing focuses on purely biological factors, and excludes psychological, environmental, and social influences. According to this model, good health is the freedom from pain, disease, or defect. It focuses on physical processes that affect health, such as the biochemistry, physiology, and pathology of a condition. It does not account for social or psychological factors that could have a role in the illness. In this model, each illness has one underlying cause, and once that cause is removed, the patient will be healthy again, (Alloy, Jaconson,& Acocella,(1999).
The bio-psychosocial model of understanding disease process arose from the context of changing conceptualisations of mind and body and the emergence of new fields of enquiry, including health psychology, medical sociology, behavioural medicine and psychoneuroimmunology, Barlow,D.H. & Durand V.M.(1999).
According to Engel (1977, 1980), human beings are complex systems and illness can be caused by a multitude of factors, not just a single factor such as a virus or bacteria. This is an attempts to move away from a simple linear model of health, to assess the effects of the combination of factors involved in illness, that is; biological (for example, virus & genes), psychological (for example, stress, behaviours, & beliefs) and social/environmental (for example, employment & neighbourhood).
Engel (1977) argued that the best and most effective way of dealing with disease and illness is by the application of the three approaches that are related to human health. According to him the three interact in a very complex way and all play a significant role in human functioning in the context of disease and illness. Health is therefore better understood and managed
INTRODUCTION
The medical model has been the predominant approach used by physicians in diagnosing and management of diseases and illness in most Western countries. The biomedical model of illness and healing focuses on purely biological factors, and excludes psychological, environmental, and social influences. According to this model, good health is the freedom from pain, disease, or defect. It focuses on physical processes that affect health, such as the biochemistry, physiology, and pathology of a condition. It does not account for social or psychological factors that could have a role in the illness. In this model, each illness has one underlying cause, and once that cause is removed, the patient will be healthy again, (Alloy, Jaconson,& Acocella,(1999).
The bio-psychosocial model of understanding disease process arose from the context of changing conceptualisations of mind and body and the emergence of new fields of enquiry, including health psychology, medical sociology, behavioural medicine and psychoneuroimmunology, Barlow,D.H. & Durand V.M.(1999).
According to Engel (1977, 1980), human beings are complex systems and illness can be caused by a multitude of factors, not just a single factor such as a virus or bacteria. This is an attempts to move away from a simple linear model of health, to assess the effects of the combination of factors involved in illness, that is; biological (for example, virus & genes), psychological (for example, stress, behaviours, & beliefs) and social/environmental (for example, employment & neighbourhood).
Engel (1977) argued that the best and most effective way of dealing with disease and illness is by the application of the three approaches that are related to human health. According to him the three interact in a very complex way and all play a significant role in human functioning in the context of disease and illness. Health is therefore better understood and managed
References: 1. Alloy, L.B., Jaconson,N.S., Acocella,J. (1999). Abnormal Psychology: Current Perspectives (8th.ed). Boston: Mcgraw-Hill . 2. Barlow,D.H 3. Baum, A. & Posluszny, M.D. ,(1999). Health psychology: Mapping biobehavioral contributions to health and illness. Annual Review of Psychology, 50, 137–163. 4. Bruns D, Disorbio J.M., (2006).Chronic Pain and Biopsychosocial Disorders. Practical Pain Management, March, volume 6, issue 2. 5. DiMatteo, M.R., Haskard, K.B., & Williams, S. L., (2007). Health beliefs, disease severity, and patient adherence: A meta-analysis. Medical Care, 45, 521-528. 6. Doll R, Peto R. Mortality in relation to smoking: 20 years ' observations on male British doctors. Br Med J. 1976 Dec 25;2(6051):1525–36. 7. Engel, G.L.(1977) 8. Frankel, R.M., Quill, T.E., McDaniel, S.H. (Eds.)(2003): The Biopsychosocial Approach: Past, Present, Future. Rochester :University of Rochester Press. 9. Gatchel, R. J. & Oordt, M. S., (2003). Clinical health psychology and primary care: Practical advice and clinical guidance for successful collaboration. American Psychological Association: Washington, D.C. 10. Halligan, P.W., & Aylward, M. (Eds.), (2006). The Power of Belief: Psychosocial influence on illness, disability and medicine. Oxford University Press, UK. 11. Hoeksema, S.N., (2001). Abnormal Psychology (2nd ed). Boston: McGraw Hill. 12. Maher, B 13. McKeown’s book, The Role of Medicine (1979), The Lancet, Volume 371, Issue 9613, Pages 644 - 645, 23 February 2008. 14. McLeod, S. A., (2008). Medical Model - Treating Mental Disorders. http://www.simplypsychology.org/medical-model.html 15. Ndetei D.MSzabo,C.P.,Okasha,T.&Mburu,J.M.,(2006) 16. Ogden, J. (2012). Health Psychology: A Textbook (5th ed.). Maidenhead, UK: Open University Press 17. Price, R.H., (1978) 18. Slavin R. E., (2011). Educational Psychology: Theory and Practice (10th Edition). ISBN-10: 0137034350. 19. Santrock, J. W. ,(2007). A Topical Approach to Human Life-span Development (3rd ed.). St. Louis, MO: McGraw-Hill. 20. Sarason, I.G. & Sarason B.R.,(2005). Abnormal Psychology: The Problem of maladaptive Behaviour(11th.ed.).New Delhi: Prentice-Hall of India. 21. Sarno, J. E. (1998). The Mind-body Prescription: Healing the Body, Healing the Pain. Warner Books. ISBN 0-446-52076-4. 22. Stone, A.A.,Bovbjerg,D.H.,Neale, J.M., et (1992).” Development of Common cold Symptoms following experimental rhino virus”Behavioral Medicine. Fall,115-120. 23. Szasz, T. S., (1961), The Myth of Mental Illness, New York: Holber-Harper, 24. World Health Organization as adopted by the International Health Conference, New York, 19-22 June, 1946.