Biomedical Model Of Health

The Biomedical model has been the model of health that has dominated industrialised societies in the west. The biomedical model of health identifies health as the absence of disease. The biomedical model focuses on diagnosing and curing individuals who have a specific illness or other medical conditions. Health professionals will use methods that have been scientifically tested to treat diagnosed illnesses. The biomedical model view of health supports the practices and policies of the National Health Service (NHS). The biomedical model and the functionalist perspective fit well together as illness is regarded as being dysfunctional for society. This is because if individuals are ill, it means that they are not able to contribute to a smooth-running society as they as much as they used to before they became ill. Functionalists have a similar view to
the biomedical model as they believe if individuals become ill or assume the sick role, which views illness as a social role and considers the sick and relieve them of their usual social responsibilities, however, when possible resume their social duty as soon as they capable again. The biomedical model doesn’t give holistic care which means that they only treat one specific illness and not the whole health and wellbeing of that person.
It also means that an individual could repeatedly suffer from a specific condition as an underlying reason which has not yet been discovered. The biomedical model view on having an impairment to be a problem or a health condition that an individual has, this impairment can be physical or psychological. The biomedical model believes that having an impairment can cause restrictions and limitations on that individual, making day to day activities more difficult due to the individuals restricted functioning. The biomedical model also sees disability as being caused by society as it has created a disabling environment for individuals who have impairments, this is because the individuals’ needs are not being met and are not being fully considered within society. This also means that individuals who have an impairment are unable to participate fully within society because it does not have appropriate services to accommodate their
impairment. Criticisms of the biomedical model
• Sociologists believe that the biomedical models approach on health and illness is inadequate as the model does not focus on other factors, such as social and environmental factors, that may lead to an individual’s ill health.
• Causes of illness can vary and have several different causes, but the biomedical approach, however, only focuses on the individual and ignores the environmental factor that may be the cause of diseases.
• By only focusing on diagnosing and treating an individual for specific conditions, means that the overall health and wellbeing of the individual may be ignored and see as unimportant.
Implications for professionals and service users
By using the biomedical model, which is often referred to as a negative model of health, health care professionals view that an individual can or should be viewed as healthy if there are no symptoms of illness or disease. The patient that is being diagnosed by the biomedical professional is likely to accept the diagnosis. By focusing purely on the symptoms of illness, it ignores the aspects of good health and how important feeling energised, fit, happy and optimistic are.