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Advantages Of The Biopsychosocial Model

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The Biopsychosocial Model The biopsychosocial model of health care allows medical practice to be understood completely in terms of biological, psychological and social factors. The model suggests that every illness can be explained and treated by an interaction between these three factors. The model was proposed by George L. Engel, the Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Rochester, where he challenged the previously prevailing medical model, called the biomedical model, and argued for the introduction of a biopsychosocial model. The biomedical model had viewed illness purely from a pathophysiological perspective, suggesting that every disease could be explained from a biological standpoint. It ignored a ‘mind-body connection’. Health however, is not simply limited to biology. “Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not simply the absence of disease or infirmity” as defined by the World Health Organisation. The biopsychosocial model is an absolute necessity for clinical practice - it allows physicians to treat people who have diseases and not just the diseases people have. This will give us the ability to understand people beyond their biological functioning and to view human health in its fullest context. As a result, we will not just focus on the treatment of the illness but its prevention also - by tackling the true root of the illness.[check reference] Each of the three dimensions of the biopsychosocial model feed into each
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