Biomedical Model Essay
Health and illness are dominated by the traditional biomedical model which is based on scientific processes and objectivity. In this approach, illness is a breakdown in the body’s biological systems, and there is a separation of mind and body. However, this rigid perception has been challenged in recent years and healthcare professionals recognise there is a link between the mind and body. The challenges have come from from those practising complementary alternative medicine (CAM). CAM has been defined simply as those therapies which fall outside the traditional biomedical treatments and practices. These therapies can be divided into four domains which are, mind/body therapies, biologically based practice, energy medicines and manipulative
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People may hold multiple and conflicting beliefs about health. Individuals' health beliefs are not constant and fixed, but reflect their life experiences and acquisition of knowledge from a variety of sources. People's health beliefs influence their health behaviours, including the decision about when and whom to consult for health advice. M odels of health provide understanding on the basis of different cosmologies. These models are not fixed but overlap and continuously evolve. The biomedical model has gradually given way to a broader biopsychosocial understanding of health. This is reflected in both medical training and clinical practice. CAM can provide ways of understanding the body that accord with and give meaning to people's lay understanding. Despite a greater professed interest in the balance between people and their environment, CAM treatments may promote an individualistic analysis of health. There is no single CAM philosophy. CAM therapists work in a variety of ways, some being more holistic than others, some working with philosophies that can be accommodated within a biomedical understanding of the body (e.g. osteopathy) and others that cannot (e.g. acupuncture). Users of CAM are not necessarily drawn to therapists because of their philosophy. Conventional medicine relies on methods proved to be safe and effective with carefully designed trials and
People may hold multiple and conflicting beliefs about health. Individuals' health beliefs are not constant and fixed, but reflect their life experiences and acquisition of knowledge from a variety of sources. People's health beliefs influence their health behaviours, including the decision about when and whom to consult for health advice. M odels of health provide understanding on the basis of different cosmologies. These models are not fixed but overlap and continuously evolve. The biomedical model has gradually given way to a broader biopsychosocial understanding of health. This is reflected in both medical training and clinical practice. CAM can provide ways of understanding the body that accord with and give meaning to people's lay understanding. Despite a greater professed interest in the balance between people and their environment, CAM treatments may promote an individualistic analysis of health. There is no single CAM philosophy. CAM therapists work in a variety of ways, some being more holistic than others, some working with philosophies that can be accommodated within a biomedical understanding of the body (e.g. osteopathy) and others that cannot (e.g. acupuncture). Users of CAM are not necessarily drawn to therapists because of their philosophy. Conventional medicine relies on methods proved to be safe and effective with carefully designed trials and