Biomedical Model of Health

?
View mindmap
  • Biomedical Model of Health
    • What is it?
      • The biomedical or medical (sometimes also known as the bio-mechanical) model of health, is a scientific measure of health and regards disease as the human body having a breakdown due to a biological reason.
        • The biomedical model of health focuses on purely biological factors and excludes psychological, environmental, and social influences. 
    • What Causes illness?
      • The biomedical model states that illnesses either come from outside the body and invade the body resulting in physical changes within the body or originate in the body as involuntary internal changes. These involuntary changes could be a result of; chemical imbalances, bacteria, viruses or even genetic predisposition.
    • How should illness be treated?
      • The biomedical model regards treatment in terms of vaccination, surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy, in order to change the physical state of the body. 
    • What is the relationship between health and illness?
      • Within the biomedical model, health and illness are seen as different because you can either be healthy or ill and you could never be a mixture of the two.
    • What is the relationship between the mind and body?
      • The mind is seen as abstract and relating to feelings and thoughts, and the body is seen in terms of physical matter such as skin, muscles, bones, brain and organs. Changes in the physical matter are regarded as independent of changes in state of mind.
    • What are the advantages?
      • The model encourages research into illness, rather than assuming nothing can be done and the knowledge that this research provides us with helps us to avoid illness in the future wherever possible.
      • Many successful treatments have been developed as a result of the research that this model generates.
    • What are the disadvantages?
      • Some could even argue that the biomedical model focuses too much on treatment, rather than prevention of the illness itself and the biomedical model gives too much power to medical professionals. An example of an area in which this model fails to provide answers is Latrogenesis, in which the illness is brought on by the healer.
      • Coward (1989) stated that this model implies that health problems are individual and ignores the social factors that can cause illness. 
      • The biomedical model ignores the view that health and illness are relatively socially constructed. 

Comments

No comments have yet been made

Similar Health & Social Care resources:

See all Health & Social Care resources »See all Biomedical Model of Health resources »