NUR015-1: Biopsychosocial Perspective on Health and Well-being Essay

This essay provides a critical analysis of the biopsychosocial perspective on a patient with dementia, examining the psychological, sociological, and biological factors affecting their well-being. It discusses the role of anatomy and physiology in health and healthcare, defining biological, psychological, and social well-being. The essay also highlights the importance of health promotion for individuals, groups, and populations, and explores the interconnection between psychological and physical well-being, including the impact of life experiences. A detailed patient description is provided, outlining symptoms of moderate cognitive decline, difficulties in concentration, memory loss, and social withdrawal. The analysis further explains how dementia affects cognitive and functional abilities, leading to challenges in recognizing places, problem-solving, attention span, and social interactions. The essay concludes by emphasizing the need for a multispectral approach to health promotion, considering socioeconomic factors and the interconnectedness of psychological and physical health.

Health and Well-Being

This essay consists of a critical analysis of the biopsychosocial perspective on a patient
with dementia. The psychological, sociological and biological factors that affect an
individual’s well being as well as health is the model discussed here. It is further
discussed how anatomy and physiology has a role to play in the health and health care
system with a detailed discussion of what biological, psychological and social well-being
means. It is also noted here how health promotion plays a role in the well being of an
individual, group, and population. It has also been discussed how psychological well
being and physical well being are interconnected and what sort of impacts can life
experiences have on physical and mental well being.
Patient Description
45 year old, female
Married, 2 children,
Lives in a town in an apartment
Works at a corporate day job
Graduated from high school
Minimal exercise
Dementia, Smoker, enjoys drinks 20-25 units per week
Family history of dementia on mother’s side
This patient showed symptoms of moderate cognitive decline and showed symptoms of
facing difficulty concentrating on things, forgetting current events, losing track of
finances as well as having difficulty traveling to known places, like her office, alone. The
patient had also been facing issues with socializing and often felt withdrawn from
interacting with friends, family, and colleagues. The early stage of dementia is known to
last on an average, for two years and is easily detectable during a medical exam, as
seen in the case of this patient (Buckner et al. 2013). This patient showed many
symptoms like Misplacing items very often- Due to a daily hectic schedule, the patient
had led an organized life but for the last few months before diagnosis, she often
misplaced her car keys, mobile and important documents, forgetting recent events- As
involved in an office as a lower level employee of project management, she often forgot
to send deadline alerts, completely forgot about reminders given to her to attend recent
meetings, etc. She also lost track of time and date and often delayed projects for the
same, difficulty finishing sentences- Patient is known among family and friends as an
outspoken person, but that changed over the past few months which could be
witnessed through fumbling mid-sentence and often times going blank while in a
conversation over the phone or in person and the onset of anxiety, irritability, and
depression- Often times the patient has been suffering from anxiety of not being
punctual at the office, finishing work in time and felt aggression when confronted about
the same. Several mood swing episodes resulting from aggression within family and
colleagues were also observed.
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A biopsychological perspective is a model which can explain the health and wellbeing of
a person in terms of biological, psychological and social perspective (Wade and
Halligan, 2017). This helps analyze the multi-dimensional approach to a human being’s
overall health and does not simply stick to physical well-being. In case of people
suffering from an early stage of dementia, this model helps analyze how the three
aspects can be affected by the state of the health condition of a person and how this
condition, in turn, affect these aspects of their life (Seery, 2013).
Cognitive effects and functional effects can be severe in the case of dementia and give
rise to multiple issues like Difficulty in recognizing places, a decline in short term
memory, decline in problem-solving ability, a decline in attention span decreased
concentration skill, a difficulty in learning new skills, difficulty in completing a day-to-day
task like showering, eating and putting on clothes, losing track of money, a decline in
reaction to external stimuli resulting in slower reactions and loss of verbal skills (Revolta
et al., 2016).
This is mainly represented by the loss of social skills and is witnessed through a change
in behavior patterns like a decline in social interaction, overreaction to external stimuli,
repetitive patterns of changed behavior, physical aggression as well as verbal and
inappropriate behavior towards strangers and known people (Waugh and Grant, 2014).
The psychological effects are mostly analyzed through behavioral change but they do
follow patterns and are often witnessed as severe irritability, recurrent mood swings,
sudden change in personality, anxiety, depression and frustration with oneself as well
as others (Townsend and Morgan, 2017)
Anatomy can be simply defined as the study which explains the different structures of
the human body whereas physiology is defined as the study which explains the function
of such structures. A human body is a complex machine and for it to work properly, all
of these structures must function optimally. This is why anatomy and physiology with its
interdependency impact health and healthcare (Melchert, 2015). If these structures fail
to function optimally then it is defined as the person having a disease which means that
a person’s health has been compromised and through proper health care it may or may
not be cured. For example in the case of the patient with dementia, her cognitive skills
have been compromised which has impacted her functioning in life. This shows that a
part of her brain responsible for cognitive skills is somehow not functioning optimally
which has resulted to her not being able to respond to external stimuli as well as she
would be able to if this condition did not prevail (Ryff, 2014). The pre-requisite o
understand health and healthcare is a deep understanding of anatomy and physiology.
This helps detect what structure of the body is not functioning optimally and can help
assess the degrading health condition. It is evident that such conditions can only exist
when there is less optimal or wrong functioning of a structure of the human body which
is directly related to both anatomy and physiology, which shows why these two studies
are of extreme importance in health and health care. It would be next to impossible to
treat this patient just depending on symptoms without actually diagnosing that she was
suffering from dementia which was only possible through the understanding of how the
human body works, thereby directly relating it to anatomy and physiology (Cooke et al.
2014). To follow through with a treatment plan for the patient and her family or friends
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concerned. it is important to ensure that the patient understands the condition she is
suffering from which is only possible if the physician is able to describe the condition in
simple terms to the concerned patient.
Great use of the biopsychosocial perspective is because it can simply explain why some
people are more prone to being affected by a mental health condition in comparison to
others. It bursts the myth that those who have great mental health are more likely to
exercise and form strong social bonds and are rarely affected by conditions relating to
mental and physical health, even dementia. It shows that if the biological, psychological
and sociological balance is disturbed somehow, this mental stability can shatter no
matter how mentally strong they are and even result in loss of mental ability as in the
case of dementia (Moylan, 2015).
The optimal functioning of every body part is what defines the biological well being of a
person. This involves the ability to recognize external stimuli, functioning optimally in
everyday work without mental or physical hindrance. This also involves relationships
between genetic makeup, hormones and proper nutrition which keeps the physique
functioning optimally without any interference through infections, trauma, etc.
Psychological well bring is considered to be the optimal condition when a person is able
to function properly in daily activities without having emotional outbursts, turmoil, loss of
self-control or negative thoughts about oneself or others (Raczynski and DiClemente,
2013).
Sociological well bring can be defined as having or being able to participate in social
and cultural interactions without having problems with a decline in interaction and
participation witnessed through a change in behavior.
It is now well accepted that well being is not just determined by health conditions but
also parameters that exist outside the health system like socioeconomic factors, diverse
patterns of consumption of food and communications, changes in the working
conditions, family patterns, learning patterns commercialization of trade , socio-political
changes, environment changes as well as cultural and socio-economic fabrics. In order
to prevent degradation of well being due to changing parameters like urbanization,
demographic, food insecurity, epidemiological transition, financial crisis, etc. It is
important to use health promotion as an essential tool. In order to counter the
challenges that have to arise due to the financial crisis, epidemiological progress,
urbanization, unstable methods of sustainability, changes in the environment and
several other factors, which has jeopardized health and well being, health promotion
must be implemented and cannot be downplayed. A multispectral, satisfactorily
supported, proof-based wellbeing advancement program with investment in terms of a
network which focuses on the complex financial as well as social changes at family and
group levels is the need of time to prevent the health crisis arising out of financial
problems. Health advancement endeavors can be directed towards the need for
creating optimal wellbeing conditions considering an enormous population and
advancing various intercessions (Sharma, 2016). This issue-based methodology will
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work best whenever supplemented by settings-based plans. The settings-based
structures must be implemented in schools, workplaces, markets, neighborhoods, and
other areas to address the need of medical issues arising in a community or group
within a population, by considering the parameters that determine the well being of the
community, for example, cultural practices, social convictions, and other forms of fabrics
of the society that exists where these particular individuals live and work with the
population. With respect to the existing parameters in the community that can have a
detrimental effect on the well being of individuals and groups, setting-based structures
of health promotion must be encouraged in the form of social events. These promotional
activities must take into consideration the entire population. Existing sickness in any
population can be defined in four categories, The populace for any malady can be
separated into four gatherings a) Mentally sound people, b) people affected by
communicable diseases, c) people with disease symptoms and d) people infected with
diseases. Each of these four categories must receive an explicit focus in order to
address the existing well-being issues of the entire population. To sum things up, it must
be ensured that the population suffering from sickness has received rehabilitation or
corrective health care services as required. Precautionary measures need to be
implemented to check the detrimental factors in a population that could endanger the
wellbeing at the individual and group level in a population. This means taking precaution
and promoting health in a manner so that it is not affected by financial, natural, social
parameters. (Kok et al., 2013).
Psychological and physical wellbeing is interconnected at a very fundamental level.
There is a different relationship between psychological well-being and unending
physical conditions that affects an individuals' personal satisfaction, requirement related
to health care services and other administrative support, which can directly have an
outcome on the entire society (Wrosch et al., 2013). As defined by the World Health
Organization (WHO) wellbeing is the condition of complete social, physical and mental
prosperity and not merely the absence of disease or illness. The WHO states that
wellbeing cannot be defined without taking mental health into consideration.
There must be no confusion in stating that there exists a connection between mental
and physical wellbeing. The relationship between mental and physical wellbeing can be
defined as poor psychological well-being is a hazard factor for endless detrimental
physical conditions (Wells et al., 2016).People with genuine psychological wellness
conditions can also be subjected to the danger of encountering unending physical
conditions.People with incessant physical conditions are in danger of creating poor
psychological wellness (Chaudoir et al., 2013).
It can hence be concluded that the biopsychosocial model can very well put a clear
perspective on a person’s physical as well as mental well being. The patient with
dementia has been witnessed to have suffered setbacks in all three of these aspects of
biological, psychological and sociological well being. The social parameters of wellbeing
can bring about both unending physical conditions and affect emotional wellness.
Essential factors that can act as counteractive actions are access to nutritious food,
guaranteeing sufficient salary and encouraging social factors that have positive effects
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on psychological and physical wellness. This makes chances to improve defensive
factors and diminish chance variables identified with parts of mental and physical
wellbeing. Only with a deep understanding of the relationship between brain and bodily
functions, it would be possible to create health promotions that could lower the effects
existing social conditions have on wellbeing and counterattack the effects of adverse
psychological and physical conditions.
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References
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