This model identifies health as the ‘absence of disease’ with specific focus on diagnosing and curing individuals with illnesses such as cancer. The different views which are associated with health results in many policies and practices of the National Health Service (NHS) being put in place. The biomedical model suggests that during times of illness, intervention from health care professionals is necessary. Not only this, but the biomedical model also suggests health is the reason for the absence of many life threatening diseases. It is argued by many sociologists the main purpose of health care is to cure disease through the use of scientifically tested methods purposely created to address diagnosed illnesses.
(Giddens 1989) This model of health looks at individual physical functioning and describes disease and illness as a result of physical causes such as injury or infections. The model focuses on the treatment rather than the prevention. It does not take into account the role of a person's mind or society in the treatment. (Senior and Viveash 1998) It is for reducing the treating of morbidity of unhealthy, disease conditions and premature death and focuses on the removal of illness through diagnosis and effective treatment which makes it useful for helping ill patients. (Webb and Tossell 1999) In the biomedical model of health a critical
The Bio-medical model has several assumptions that are accurate; it defines health as a biological normality it also believes that illnesses and disease are caused by an identifiable factor such as a faulty gene or virus. The model believes that illness is a temporary condition producing a physical symptom and that it should be identified and classified by a medical official not a non-expert. It is common for the experts that follow the bio-medical model to focus solely on diagnosing the symptoms of their patient leaving no room for dispute between the doctor and the patient. Illness and disease has cures and treatments usually from removing the cause, medicine is seen as the way to solve health problems, and the health of society is seen as dependant on the state of medical knowledge and the availability of medical resources. The main strengths of the bio-medical model is that it stresses the importance of trying to find the cause of illness and disease; there is a wealth of evidence that support the bio-medical approach, including successful operations, cancer screenings and immunisation programmes.
The brochure also states that even if they do not have insurance they the facility will try to help by finding financial help or by making other arrangements. Texas Good Samaritan Law The Texas Good Samaritan Law actually protects the person who administers emergency care or an individual unless the person to administer the care is found to have willfully given negligent care. In the case of Sandra this would have played a huge role simply because the consent to treatment was implied and the doctor made the decision to actually perform treatment even though Sandra was incoherent. The doctor actually made an informed decision based on the severity of the wound and in good faith proceeded with treatment to save her life. (Thornhill, Sherri) Respect, Empathy,
Health care environments are places to undergo treatments. The biomedical approach also relates to the functionalist approach as it specifies the absence of disease and cannot make a positive contribution. Available at: http://www.wisegeek.org/what-is-the-biomedical-model.htm Accessed 4th November 2013… states that….. The biomedical model of illness and healing focuses on purely biological factors, and excludes psychological, environmental, and social influences. This is considered to be the dominant, modern way for health care professionals to diagnose and treat a condition in most Western countries.
Medicalization of Deviance Medicalization is an issue that is dear to the sociology of medicine. It occurs when we use medical terms to address non-medical issues, and treat them as medical problems such as illnesses or diseases. Medicalization is the process by which human problems come to be defined and treated as medical conditions, and come under the authority of doctors and other health professionals to study, diagnose, prevent, or treat. The term has been used more often in the critique of medicalization, than as a neutral term simply describing something that has become medical. It is has been called "the process whereby more and more of everyday life has come under medical dominion, influence, and supervision", and "defining behavior as a medical problem or illness and mandating/licensing the medical professionals to provide some type of treatment for it".
One of the therapies that are well known to treat psychological disorders is called the biomedical therapies, or medical treatments (Hockenbury). Biomedical Therapies are medical treatments which are used to treat a variety of psychological disorders. There are a few different types of medications included in biomedical therapy, which include antipsychotic medications, antianxiety medications, antidepressant medications, lithium, and electroconvulsive therapy (Hockenbury). These medications treat the symptoms of mental or psychological disorders. Medication will not cure the disorder, but it can intervene to help the person suffering from the disorder to feel better (National Institute of Mental Health).
M1: Assess the biomedical and socio-medical models of health. Biomedical model: The biomedical model only focuses on the biological factors when someone is ill it doesn’t look at the social or environmental factors that could have lead to the illness. This method is dominant in the Western societies. Most health care professionals will only analyse what is and look for something that is biologically or genetically wrong with you they won't ask you anything personal about your life because they aren't interested in that, they are just interested in making you well again. According to this model, good health is where you feel no pain, and don't have a disease or defect.
Antibiotics only treat infections caused by bacteria and not illnesses caused by viruses. The doctor finds prescribing antibiotics to be the easiest way to take care of a patient instead of treating the infection or illness. Many people believe that antibiotics are the cure for every infection or disease; however that couldn’t be farther from the truth. We should encourage the doctors to prescribe medications to treat illness and only resort to antibiotics when other prescriptions fail. Improper use of antibiotics is the primary cause of drug-resistant bacteria.
It also tends to rely upon a diagnosis being made, most probably by a member of the medical profession. If we are unaware that we have a disease or if this disease has not been diagnosed, does it mean that we are healthy? (Aggleton 1990) The concept of the power of medicine stems from the biomedical model of health, which originated from the work of Rene Descartes. He suggested that the