A1 - Health and ill health: biomedical, biopsychosocial, health as a continuum.

Question 1

What is health?

Answer 1

Health itself is not just physical it has to be considered holistically. A state of complete physical, mental and social well-being not the merely the absence of disease. (holistically – looking at a person’s health in terms of both their mind and body.)

Question 2

What is ‘ill-health’ ?

Answer 2

‘ill-health’ is any deviation from health. It can be defined as failure to adapt to environmental forces and function normally in society.

Question 3

Biomedical Model

Answer 3

The biomedical definition views health/illness in terms of physical or biological factors. It defines illness as ‘physical disease’. This model considers the mind as a separate part and therefore not influential in the cause, or treatment of an individual’s health. It also ignores social or economic factors.

Question 4

Biomedical pt2

Answer 4

The biomedical approach believes you are either healthy or ill. The focus is on biological functioning rather than on, for instance, social and psychological causes of illness.

Question 5

Biopsychosocial Model

Answer 5

The approach aims to enhance the person’s health rather than just make them ‘not ill’.
The biopsychosocial approach has a more complex view. It believes that health is on a continuum and varies between these two extremes. ( good and bad health )
This is an integrated approach to health which involves biological (genes), psychological (behaviour), and social (class) areas.

Question 6

Health Continuum

Answer 6

This is a type of scale. At one end of the scale your health is very good and at the other end it is very poor.
Diff factors, eg. physical or psychological, will influence your status on the scale in terms of your health.

Question 7

What is the difference between psychological and physiological?

Answer 7

Physiological relates to the physical and chemical processes of the body, and may be used to describe physical diseases or disorders. Psychological relates to the processes of the mind, and may be used to describe mental illnesses.