The Western scientific approach to medicine bases on these main features, focusing on the abnormalities in the body, biological factors explain the illness, it examines the cause of ill health through observations and tests, trained health professionals are the ones able to identify and treat the illness, emphasising different treatments medications and other interventions. Health care environments are appropriate places to undergo treatments and the model specifically states that illness is regarded as a temporary condition which can be reversed by the intervention of medical expertise. The bio medical model relates to the functionalist approach of health as it specifies that health is the absences of disease and it’s regarded as dysfunctional for the society as individuals cannot make positive contribution to the running of society. The model does not consider the social and environmental factors of ill health but relays on the scientifically methods to address and diagnose the illness if the illness cannot be diagnosed the individual would be labelled as malingering meaning one will be pretending to be ill for
M1 - Assess the biomedical and socio-medical models of health The biomedical model of health "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. Most health care professionals do not first ask for a psychological or social history of a patient; instead, they tend to analyse and look for biophysical or genetic malfunctions. The focus is on objective laboratory tests rather than the subjective feelings or history of the patient." (Wise geek) This is the model of health that has over taken the way medication, treatment and diagnoses is done in many Western countries.
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 BSP is somewhat different from the biomedical model which Doctors in medicine uses as this kind of treatment model focuses more on the physical process as the pathology or the origin of the disease, its biochemistry and its physiological aspects (Wampold, B. (2001). The biomedical model only explains the biological aspect without involving the psychological and social background. Psychological and social aspects are important in determining that the diseases and illness are occurring without effect on both process and outcome of the treatment. Psychological aspect of it plays an important role in determining the prognosis of an individual with disease regardless of the severity of their medical diagnosis (J. W. Drisko and M. D. Grady, 2012).
Naturopathic Philosophy Case Analysis Essay Word Count: 1070 The time spent in consultation with a patient is one of the biggest differences between naturopathy and conventional medicine. In order to establish a detailed understanding of the patient’s current health a thorough medical history as well as a look at their diet and lifestyle habits needs to be taken. There are six fundamental healing principles that underpin the practice of naturopathy. Three of those principles are Vis Medicatrix Naturae – The Healing Power of Nature, Primum Non Nocere – First Do No Harm and Tolle Totem – Treat the Whole Person. Each of these principles directly relates to the need for a naturopath to collect in-depth information from patients in the initial consultation.
In this essay I will be discussing the sociological approaches to ill health& health whilst assessing the biomedical & socio-medical issues and linking them to the given scenario. There are four particular approaches that I will be focussing on these are: Functionalism, Marxism, Interactionism and Feminism. The functionalist approach to health & ill health is a statement which was inspired by the work of Talcott Parsons. He concluded that in order for a society to function correctly & effectively all the members within the society must be healthy. Those within the society that were sick would be seen as a barrier that stops society from progressing.
Even after multiple techniques that been implemented, such as, hand hygiene posters above sinks, there is non-compliance in hand hygiene by medical professionals. With the increase in hospital-acquired infections, it is important that medical professionals are complaint and follow standard protocols that have been implemented on hand hygiene. Decreasing the incidences of hospital-acquired infections will improve the quality of life of the patient as well as decrease the cost spent to treat infections. B. Quantifiable Measures. List and define all quantifiable measures used in this activity.
Biomedical- The biomedical model focuses on structures and the functioning of the body of medicines. The biomedical approach to health relates well to the policies and practices of the NHS (National Health Service). The model focuses on the main features, focusing on the abnormalities of the body, biological factors explain the illness. It also examines the cause of ill health through observations and tests. Health care environments are places to undergo treatments.
Although the growing importance of these social value judgments may be acknowledged, we must not neglect individual patient values (Moore 2010). However, in daily practice, it is doctors who may incorporate these factors in their clinical decisions. Doctors make therapeutic decisions based on the available information for average patients, but they are aware that, sometimes, individual patient values may modify these decisions (Moore 2010). Patients may refuse a cancer treatment that is backed by clinical trial evidence and has positive cost-effectiveness, simply because they are reluctant to suffer the side effects of the therapy, or they may prefer avoiding an inconvenient preventive intervention because they are willing to take the bigger risk of getting the disease, or suffering the complication that the intervention sought to prevent (Moore 2010). Just as the scientific value judgments of organizations should be individualized for each patient by the doctor, social value judgments should be put within the perspective of individual value judgments (Moore 2010).
Biomedical model makes a cure the priority within health care services. Health is determined by the “absence of disease”. The reason for national health services are to find cures for already existing diseases and or an illness. After researching the illness enough to find out how to cure it, they then give out medication to cure the illness. Sociologists find that doing all the research needed to find a cure is a limitation of the model.