models of health and illness- the biomedical model Flashcards
Biomedical model
Conventional western model of health and illness. The biomedical model sees the body very much like a biological machine, with each part of the body performing a function. The doctors job is to restore the functions by solving the problem of what is wrong. Ideas about the environement or the spiritual health of the person are not relevant. Health is seen as the absence of biological abnormality. The health society is regarded as dependent on the state of medical knowledge.
Nicki hart - 5 features
- Disease is physical
- Doctors are an elite
- Medicine is curative
- Illness is temporary
- Treatment is special
Disease is physical
The biomedical model concentrates on physical symptoms of disease, not social and environmental factors. Disease happens in an individuals body, not as part of society.
Doctors are an elite
The medical elite are the only people sufficiently skilled to identify an treat illness
Illness is temporary
Illness can be cured by the medical elite. Wellness is the normal state of affairs
Treatment is special
Treatment of disease takes place in recognised healthcare environments which are distinct from the environment where the patient got ill.
critic of the biomedical model
It suggests that health can be defined objectively, as the absence of disease. However what counts as disease or illness and good health is shown as socially constructed and is a product of peoples interpretations and social influences which can vary by ime, place and culture and is not simply a biological fact.
Marmot 2010
Critics the biomedical model suggesting health and wellbeing were shaped by a wide range of factors in daily life, inlcuding material circumstances, such as hazardous work environments, poor quality food, poverty or environmental pollution, social position, education, occupation, income, gender and ethnicity. Ill health is not simply a matter of fate or bad luck, but very much a product of society and social circumstances in which a person lives.
White 2005
Critics the biomedical model claiming that peoples well being is influenced by a combination of biological, psychological and social factors
Dubos 1966 and pines 1980
Critics the biomedical model- explored the interplay of environmental, physical, mental and spiritual dimensions of health, and stressed that individuals were not just biological units but thinking individuals living in a social context. They pointed out that while people are more or less the same biologically, people usually have diseases characteristic of the society, the social groups and the social conditions in which they live their lives. These factors can all influence health and are important considerations in maintaining health, and diagnosing and treating disease.
Mckeown and szreter
Shown that doctors are not responsible for improving life expectancy and health. Improvements are only possible when governments make political choices to intervene to improve public health and social conditions.
