Biomedical and Social Model of Health

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Biomedical and social model of health Health is “A state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity” (WHO, 1946). Health can be defined as an “absence of disease” in the modern western world and is found in medical documentation, government reports and legislation. (Waugh et.al 2008). There are two competing models of health and they are often referred to as the biomedical and social models. The differences between the biomedical and social model of health is that biomedical focuses on the cure for treating and diagnosing treatment for ill patients while the social model focuses on the origins of the illness rather than the cure. (Denny and Earle 2010) The social model’s aim is to change environmental factors to allow healthier choices focusing on the psychological and social factors such as age, gender, ethnicity, religion, social class and disability.(Kirby et.al 2000) The biomedical model of medicine has been around for centuries as the dominant model used by health professionals to diagnosis disease. The model concentrates on the physical processes of disease and does not take into account psychological or social factors in the cause or treatment of the illness.(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

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