Biopsychosocial Approach to Illness, Individual Human Person (trans 2)

Question 1

Introduced by Dr. Jaime C. Zaguirre

Answer 1

INDIVIDUAL HUMAN PERSON

**basic unit of human society

Question 2

Individual
o Signifies an individual entity with his own particular characteristic attributes different from any other.
o Refers to the uniqueness of a person

Answer 2

Person

o Implies a human being in the drama of life, thriving in a social milieu

Question 3

3 Components of the IHP

Answer 3

1. Physical (Soma)
2. Mental (Psyche)
3. Spiritual (Spirit)
   * *These three components cannot be separated from each other

Question 4

All internal and external agents and incidences in a person’s milieu

Answer 4

Environment

• *Predisposing factors
• *Precipitating factors

Question 5

Predisposing factors

• “Conditioning factors”
• Agents or incidents in environment which render the IHP susceptible to breaking down upon being subjected to one or more precipitating factors
• Nature and Nurture

Answer 5

Precipitating factors

- “triggering factors”

Question 6

a configuration, pattern or organized field having specific properties that cannot be derived from the summation of its component parts; a unified whole

Answer 6

Gestalt

• *Every human behavior is a gestalt
• *The whole gestalt behavior is not only aggregate, nor simple summation of these parts, but formation of an integrated whole

Question 7

A general characteristic personal way of life peculiar to every IHP in his uniqueness as a human existence

Answer 7

Lifestyle

**A life-long gestalt formation of his habits molded by his past and present experiences

Question 8

Gestalt Synthesis - If any subsidiary change in behavior or life style occurs, then there is a corresponding change of the soma, psyche and spirit

• *Somatic - psychological expression of the body image
• *Psychic - symbolic language of the Ego Image
• *Spiritual - intellectual processes based on subjective experience and the meaning and value of his Self Image

Answer 8

E.g.:
Change in soma – Recent MI
Change in psyche – Feeling of sadness
Change in spirit – Interpreting the meaning- “I must be getting old”

Question 9

Believed that clinicians must attend simultaneously to the biological, psychological, and social dimensions of illness.

Answer 9

George Engel (BIOPSYCHOSOCIAL MODEL)

Question 10

Characteristics of the Biomedical Model

Answer 10

1. Dualism
2. Reductionism
3. . Detached Observer

Question 11

Dualism

- Separation of body and mind

Answer 11

• *Physicians maintain a strict separation between the body-as-machine and the narrative biography and emotions of the person without building bridges between the two realms
• *Even if patients are sick, physicians should not be affected by their emotions

Question 12

Reductionism
- According to this principle, anything that cannot be objectively verified and explained at the level of cellular and molecular processes was ignored or devalued.

Answer 12

**White collar hypertension” refers to the phenomena where a patient’s blood pressure increases upon seeing a person in only white. This is a response to the sight of a doctor and the news that the patient is about to receive.

Question 13

Detached Observer

Answer 13

The physician does not involve himself in the patient’s life or support system. He is only meant to observe and provide options for treatment

Question 14

Emphasized the importance of understanding human health and illness in their fullest context

Answer 14

Biopsychosocial Approach to Illness

Question 15

REMEMBER

The doctor-patient relationship is a critical component of the BPS model

Answer 15

**An interaction of two human beings dealing intimately with one another over issues involving health, illness, and sometimes death

Question 16

The patient-doctor relationship

Answer 16

**The essence: Ability to integrate excellent medical treatment with compassionate care of the patient
Humane medicine: Treating emotional distress in patients as well as their physical illness

Question 17

Stages of illness behaviour

Answer 17

o Symptom experience – The patient getting sick, such as having fever, nausea, or vomiting.
o Assumption for the sick role - No longer denies that he is sick, but still decides whether or not he should go to the doctor.
o Medical care contact – Where the patient-doctor relationship comes in. Also involves how the patient is treated.
o Dependent patient role – The patient follows and agrees with what the doctor is saying
o Recovery or rehabilitation

Question 18

Transference: The patient may have an image of the physician, relating him to someone

Answer 18

Counter-transference: Redirection of a physician’s feelings towards a client