Biopsychosocial Model

Question 1

Give some reasons for the decrease in death rate in the UK observed over recent years.

Answer 1

MEDICAL ADVANCES (vaccines, new drugs, improvements in surgical techniques), SOCIAL IMPROVEMENTS (better housing, sanitation and diet).

Question 2

What is the biopsychosocial model?

Answer 2

A model of illness where PSYCHOLOGICAL factors (cognition, emotion, behaviour), SOCIAL factors (social class, employment, social support), and BIOLOGICAL factors (physiology, genetics and pathogens) all contribute to the maintenance of health and illness.

Question 3

Which model of illness is currently prevalent in Western medicine?

Answer 3

The biomedical model, where illnesses are understood in terms of biological and physiological processes and treated with physical intervention.