Biomedical Model of Health Assignment
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Added on 2020-04-21
Biomedical Model of Health Assignment
Added on 2020-04-21
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Running head: BIOMEDICAL MODEL OF HEALTHBiomedical Model of HealthName of the StudentName of the UniversityAuthor Note
1BIOMEDICAL MODEL OF HEALTHThe healthcare is one of the major needs of the developing society. The models ofhealth are the set of framework of concepts defining health (Bowling 2014). The varioustypes of the models of health include the Social Model of Health, Biomedical Model ofHealth and the Ottawa Charter for health promotion. These models help in developing andpromoting healthcare in the society. The Social Model of Health suggests that a number ofsocial factors of the environment in which the person lives influence the health of a person.The factors include individual, social, environmental, organizational, political and economicfactors. The Biomedical Model of Health says that any health related problem affecting thebody is always due to abnormalities in body workings. The change in the bodily functionscauses disease and they can be cured with medical help. According to the Ottawa Charter, thehealth is the necessity for sustenance in the society and not just physical wellness of theperson and therefore relates health to the overall lifestyle of the person as well as the medicalfacilities that can be availed (Glasby 2017). The essay take into account the BiomedicalModel of Health and evaluates it is along with the criticism and supporting theories.The Biomedical Model of Health treats illness as the malfunction of the bodilyfunctions. The model uses a number of determinants to analyze the health of a person tojustify the treatment of the person (Halfon et al. 2014). The Biomedical Model of Healthtreats the patient just as a sick physical body entity according to the signs of the illness shownby the person. There are various points that the Biomedical Theory of Health focuses on. Firstly, the cause of illness is to be identified. Biomedical Model suggests that anyillness caused to the body is due to some external pathogens of some physiological changesthat occur in the body (Deacon 2013). The model suggests that the pathogenic invasions andthe physiological changes in the body affect the functions of the body, thereby causingillness. The cause of the diseases may be hormonal or chemical imbalances, geneticpredisposition, pathogens like virus or bacteria entering the body.
2BIOMEDICAL MODEL OF HEALTHSecondly, in the model the victims are not considered responsible for their illness asthe illness is caused due to the external factors affecting the internal functions of the body (deBrouwer et al. 2017). It does not take into account the different causal determinant, whichmay have led to the disease but as a glitch in the bodily functions as the cause of the disease. Thirdly, the treatment of the illness is taken into consideration by the model.According to the different signs of illness shown by the patient, the different type of medicaltherapies can be used for the treatment of the patient. According to the functional issuesfaced by the patient, the various therapies that the model suggests include drug basedtreatment, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, surgery and vaccination. The model completely relieson the physical treatment of the illness in the hand of a responsible medical practitioner adeptin their field (Bowling 2014).According to the Biomedical Model, the health and illness are qualitative opposites ofeach other. The person is either healthy or sick; there are no grey areas in the model. There isno in-between condition of a person from health to illness or the vice versa.The Model follows the Dualism model of the mind and the body. Dualism states thatthe mind and body exist in two different planes of existence and do not affect each other’sbehaviour (Phillips, Beretta. and Whitaker 2014). The mind is taken as an entity that operatesin a different plane from the body and in no way affects the functions of the physical bodyform. Mind is an abstract entity, which influences emotions and thoughts (Lovallo 2015). Onthe contrary, body is takes as the physical entity made of bones, muscles skins and organs toperform the physical functions. The health issues according to this model are completelyrelated to the physical form of the body and they do not affect the mind of the person.The traditional biomedical models say that the physical illness might havepsychological but no psychological issues can give physical illness. For example, no amount
3BIOMEDICAL MODEL OF HEALTHof psychological issues may cause life-threatening diseases like AIDS or Cancer (Bowling2014). The Model therefore suggests that, the treatment of any physical illness should bebased on the science of medicine. The psychological scenario of the patient should be keptside while treating the illness of the body. According to the Parsons’ sick role, theBiomedical Model is justified. Researcher Talcott Parsons first gave the Sick Role model in1951 stating that a sick person has certain roles to fit in to justify the role of a sick person. Hestates that a person has to follow certain norms to be regarded as sick. Firstly, the illness isregarded as the sanctioned deviation according to this method. A person is supposed toperform their daily tasks in the society and the inability to do so is considered deviation(Heidarnia and Heidarnia 2016). For a sick person this deviation from the daily role isaccepted by the society and this is why a sickness is called sanctioned deviation. It has twobasic tenets that a person cannot be blamed for their illness and they have the responsibility torelieve themselves of their sickness as soon as possible, to perform their daily duties in thesociety.This model supports the Biomedical Model of Health as it takes the physical illness asa completely physical effect on the body independent of the mind. The theory suggests thatthe treatment of the illness in the hands of a trained practitioner is the prime motive of thesick person. The theories also negate any influence of the mind on the sickness of the body.The dualism of the two entities based on the model makes them negate any effects of themind on the illness or the treatment of the body (Heidarnia and Heidarnia 2016). The modelsface a number of criticisms from other theories of health, which accounted health as the totalwellbeing of the person and the importance of lifestyle in maintaining a healthy society.
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