Biomedical and Biopsychosocial Models of Healthcare

Biomedical and Biopsychosocial Models of Healthcare Critical Evaluation on the Future of Healthcare: The Biomedical or the Biopsychosocial Model The Biomedical Model This model has been in existence since the mid-19 th century and was predominant for physicians in the diagnosis of diseases. It comprises of four elements. It argues that, that health constitutes the freedom of pain, disease or defect which implies the normal human is healthy. In this model, the focus on the physical processes such as biochemistry, physiology and pathology of a disease do not take into consideration the role played by individual subjectivity or social factors. Unlike the biopsychosocial model, the biomedical model fails to consider negotiation between a doctor and patient in determining diagnosis. The main focus in this model is purely biological factors. It excludes social influences, environment and the psychological ones. Western countries have adopted it as a leading modern way for which health professionals treat and diagnose conditions. Regardles s of the limitations that this model expresses, it has been critical in the development of programs to control infectious diseases. In addition, it feeds more information to the biopsychosocial approach (White, 2009). The Biopsychosocial Model This is an approach that states that psychological, social and biological factors all play a key role in the human functioning in relation to illness and disease. Health is thus understood by concentrating on biological, social and psychological factors rather than entirely focusing on biological terms. It contrasts to biomedical model. Biomedical model takes the position that every disease process can be explained in accordance to deviations in normal functions such as injury, developmental abnormality in genes or virus (White, 2009). This model is used in the fields of medicine, health sociology and psychology and nursing. The acceptance, novelty and prevalence of the biopsychosocial model demonstrates variation across cultures. The model ha s been developing over time and will only mature further with health psychology designs and research. The Future of Healthcare The biopsychosocial model is at the heart of the future of healthcare. Specialization in healthcare has advanced to fields of health psychology, psychiatry, chiropractic, clinical psychology, family therapy and clinical social work. Majority of clinicians will engage the elements of biopsychosocial and biomedical models in the practices they engage in. However, it is arguable that all illnesses whether functional or organic can be managed best going by the biopsychosocial framework rather than the biomedical in practice. The two models seem to share the same goal which is improving the improvement of the patient’s well-being. What differs is the scope on which the physician considers impairment including its origin and the possible remedies. The biopsychosocial framework expands the meaning of this goal and applies it in clinical processes. Illness is approached as the subjective sense of suffering by the patient. The goal of managing the disease thus needs to identify the specific exposures of the patient which are biological, social and psychological. Potential Disabilities of the Biomedical Model The biomedical model will lose its position in the future of healthcare as it assumes that social and psychological processes are irrelevant to the disease’s process. The potential disabilities it exposes are massive. It mainly has three liabilities. First, the model is reductionist in nature. It reduces illness to lower level processes. These include chemical imbalances and disordered cells. It thus fails to recognize the general role of psychological and social determinants. Secondly, the model is a single-factor model. The explanation for illness is in terms of biological malfunctions rather that recognition of a variety of factors with only a few being biological in the causation of illness. The third liability is that the model assumes a mind-body dualism. It maintains that the body and mind are two separate entities. The final but not least liability is that the model puts more emphasis on illness over health. The focus is aberrations that cause illness instead of the conditions that would promote health.

Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Research Paper Example From the geographic perspective, Utah is identified to be quite mountainous. The state is also occupied with few great valleys, such as the Virgin River Valley in its southwestern region. There are also many rivers which flow by the heart of the state making it an incredible tourism spot. With all these factors, the Salt Lake City was also referred as one of the greenest cities in the USA. The weather conditions are generally dry in the Utah region which results in light rainfall on the cities of Utah, including Salt Lake City. The temperature is perceived to be quite favorable for the cultural heritage to prosper. Due to the wide and tall mountain ranges, which act as a protection wall to the state, it enjoys a cooler weather with a higher temperature of 8 degrees and the lowest of 6 degree Celsius on an average. However, during the winter season, the temperature is hardly recorded to dip negative with a prolonged period of freezing weather (Western Regional Climate Centre, â€Å"C limate of Utah†). To be summarized, four different seasons are identified in the Salt Lake City region, i.e. summer, fall, winter, and spring. ... Notably, the days are witnessed to be warmer than the nights in the winter season. In spring the city enjoys sunny weather with cold breeze (Salt Lake Tourist & Visitor Center, â€Å"Salt Lake City Utah†). It is worth mentioning in this context, that the weather and climate conditions of Salt Lake City depend largely on few unique variables, i.e. its location on the earth in terms of longitude and latitude and its distance from water bodies, such as oceans and/or seas (Weber, â€Å"Weather, Climate and the Climate System†). However, in the recent context, the climatic conditions of Salt Lake City have been recorded to be hampered due to continuous environmental hazards, such as air pollution, water pollution, and others. According to the environmental reports of Salt Lake City, the air quality has been remarked to diminish with its main causing factor identified as the increasing number of motor vehicles (Salt Lake City Corporation, â€Å"Air Quality†). As a cons equence, the temperature of the city is increasing persistently due to which the county people are witnessing heavy clouds in the present days along with snowfall which is quite rare during the mid of a year, i.e. the spring time in the county. The survey reports also depict that the warmth of the weather has increased almost 3 ° F. To be illustrated, according to the reports, the average maximum temperature in the period of 1971 to 2000 was recorded to be around 37 ° F and the lowest of 21 ° F. But in the current statistical analysis it was recognised that the maximum temperature of the city scores around 39 ° F and a minimum temperature of 27 ° F during the period of 1874 to 2011 (Weber, â€Å"Weather, Climate And The Climate System†). In a nutshell, the changes in the climatic

Consumer Mathmatics and Statistics Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Consumer Mathmatics and Statistics - Assignment Example On the first look, we may say that the claim would be true and we are more likely to believe on it. But, we should also consider that the researcher is implying a connection between Vitamin E being an antioxidant and that it may help fight cancer and heart disease. That is a faulty connection. Noticeably, the use of the word â€Å"might† reduces the ability of the claim to be a 100% true. For we know, using words such as â€Å"may† or â€Å"might†, does not guarantee or assure us that a result will always follow. The researcher has not established a correction connection, thus, used the statistics incorrectly, specifically implied connection mistake was committed (Statistics, nd). To address the problem, the researcher must avoid using words that would suggest a doubt to the readers. Another misuse of statistics is called suspect samples. To illustrate this, let us consider a statement made by an author in a recent article, claiming that 71% of adults do not use sunscreen. Determining the correct sample size and correct sampling method is one of the crucial parts of doing statistics. The previous statement is quite misleading since the sample used was not declared or where did the sample has came from was not stated. If these 71% of the adults are from the North Pole, which there is no enough sunlight for nearly four months, then that would be true. However, the conclusion would not be correct since those adults do not represent the whole number of adults in the US or in the world. Or, if the samples were from countries like Saudi Arabia, the Middle East or regions experiencing a hot climate and direct sunlight, the results would have been different. That is, we can conclude that most adults are using sunscreen. In eliminating the mistake, the researcher should present a data or report that the readers can conclude that the samples are really representative of the population being studied, or indicate a reliable source of the information