Functionalist Approach To Health And Social Care

Health is something different to each individual. It can be described as simply being able to function daily, to fulfil a social role. According to Talcott Parsons (1979) this functionalist approach was essential to maintain good health and healthcare. Hence, avoiding impairment of our roles in society.

The Medical model similarly describes health as ‘an absence of disease’ however, does not consider factors associated with the mind, just focuses on physical illness. (Nettleton, 2013 and Walsh & Tait, 2014). On the other hand, the World Health Organisation defines health as “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity” (WHO, 2015) this can be seen as an interactionist view

Although she has been diagnosed with this illness she may feel it will not progress as only occurs in the elderly, however this perception is often grossly incorrect and can be corrected by education. Further difficulties can be encountered here as Ava has emigrated to the UK from Poland therefore language barriers may effect her understanding. She has left family in Poland and has recently broken up with her partner of 4 years in the UK, consequently could be feeling, confused, and isolated. Healthcare in Poland is different, and does not include all the services we receive free of charge from the NHS in the UK, an example: is the patient may need to make a contribution to the cost of their care in Poland. This may be affecting Ava’s decision to take any advice recommended by her doctor. (NHS Choices,

NHS Choices (2014) claims that your GP should be your first point of professional contact for any illness, "the family doctor is like a social worker as they often deal with non-medical issues, such as housing, relationships or finances, which may be making you ill." (NHS Choices, 2014) However, for how many of us is this true, as according to the NHS Confederation (2015) “63.5 per cent 'definitely ' had confidence and trust in the last GP they saw” (NHS Confederation, 2015) On the other hand Ava could be among the remaining 36.5% of patients with reduced confidence in their GP, therefore another obstacle between Ava and good