The Biopsychosocial Model

I attended the event titled Unnatural Causes Bad Sugar on Thursday, October 22 from 6 to 7 p.m. The event centered on the ways in which many factors influence people’s lives and significantly impact health. The first part of the event centered on watching a short video that focused on the damage to health that Native American tribes faced after they lost their water. There was a large increase in the amount of Native Americans who got diabetes and who were dying. It was thought that biology and genes were one of the main causes behind the increase in diabetes, but in reality there were many other factors. Geographic location, social and economic class status, and income level has an impact on a person’s health.

In the documentary Unnatural Causes: In Sickness and in Wealth, many researchers discussed how socioeconomic issues play a role in the overall health of a person. They touched upon disparities, inequalities, lack of initiatives and overall power structure. One of those was Professor Leonard Syme who defined control of destiny as “ability to influence the events that impinge on your life.” Thus, he is saying that one has or doesn’t possess the ability to determine to what extent events play a role in their lives. Essentially, he is describing how the ability to control parts of life can affect someone’s health. The affluent have better abilities to influence how their daily life impacts their health. An example from the documentary

Health concerns is an issue that most organizations have formed a pact to safely deal with the challenge. The main agenda focuses on the eradication of health inequalities that may exist in most countries. It is best suited that social determinants are accorded the much-needed attention since they affect a number of people. In assessing the factors that affect one’s health, genetic disposition, personal behaviors, ability to obtain healthcare and the overall environment in which an individual resides are to be considered. Social determinants of Health are issues that deals with the conditions that people have found constructed in a society and acts as a parcel in their lives, such as; growth, age and some of the more complex systems that construct a society which include economic policies and their systems that include social norms, development goals and the basic political system that they are indulged under (World Health Organization, 2008).

The video features doctors, sociologists, psychologists, and public health professionals explaining how environmental factors contribute to a detrimental lifestyle and health status. In the video, Sociologist, David Williams explains that health is fixed in the quality of neighborhoods and housing. Also, the video explains that place matters because

“Chronic diseases are caused by a combination of factors that family members share, including genes, behaviors, lifestyles, and environments (e.g., residence, community)

Before we look at the different Social/Psychological Determinants of Health it is important firstly to define what a social determinant of health is. According to the World Health Organization (2017) “The social determinants of health are the conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work and age.” These conditions are as a result of a wide range of factors that are ultimately governed by the way in which money, power and specific resources are shared at different levels including those at global, national and local levels. We have all been a part of and will experience different social determinants of health throughout our lives but it is the standard at which we experience these determinants that will ultimately lead onto them affecting our health or ultimately leaving us unaffected.

Primary care is said to be the “first point of contact” for people when accessing the health care system in Ireland (Department of health and children 2001). The World health organisation(1978) outline that one of the main roles of primary health care is to provide access to care for the most vulnerable but also to identify and rectify the factors which lead to their early mortality. The Alma Ata declaration (1978) was a huge milestone in the development of primary care and they explain how essential it is for all populations’ health. Unfortunately the vulnerable populations in Ireland suffer the effects of the social determinates and also the health inequalities and die younger because they put up with a healthcare system which “places lesser value on the lives of those with lesser means” (Wren 2002). This is why primary health care is of uttermost importance, the nurse in the community must try to help prevent, educate and overcome these inequalities and provide the highest standards of health for all, which is not based on want but need.

Health is an important element throughout our life. A person’s health can be affected by many social factors such as gender roles and economic positions. As there are differences in health status between different populations groups, health inequality is then formed, for example, differences in morbidity and mortality rates between people from different social classes.

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.

Dr. Dimaano also talked about how social determinants of health are health problems that you had no choice in, they are developed by factors such as sex, age, genes, medical care, and individual behaviors such as work and home life. All of these factors play a part in our health, and

Health is the foremost need of every human being and there are various factors influencing it. Social determinants of health are the emerging topic in present scenario where they have to be considered to ensure good health to everyone. This essay shall focus on this aspect with a detailed description of SDOH in the first section followed by the reasons that exist behind considering income, housing and environment as the major factors. The last section shall deal with real time examples on such factors and their impacts on health conditions.

The concept assessment simply refers to an act of appraisal, evaluation and judgment (Dossey, Keegan, & Barrere, 2015, 469). In nursing care, assessment is the first crucial step that is carried out to be able collect and analyze information about a client. Assessment involves various issues such as physiological, psychological, spiritual, socio-cultural, life-style, and economic factors. This essay explores assessments in nursing practice and their importance in this field. It also covers models such as biopsychosocial, holistic, nursing process, and Ropers’ nursing model of the twelve activities of living.

The impact that residential segregation and health disparities among African Americans have is minorities become sicker and die more often because they lack medical insurance or have unhealthy lifestyles. Minorities receive unequal treatment from the medical system, regardless of economic status and insurance coverage. These researchers say segregation’s negative impact on health is true particularly for African-Americans, who studies consistently show are most likely to live apart from other racial-ethnic groups. Blacks, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, have the highest overall death rate in the country. The rate of high blood pressure among African-Americans is highest not just in the nation, but also in the world, the American Heart Association reports, as is the percentage of black men who contract prostate

Claim: poverty as being a risk factor for behavior problems at an early age. This is a study of children from 1 ½ years to 5 years of age.

The Health Field Model (HFM) is the conceptual framework that is used by different health care organizations or in individual research projects to evaluate the prevalence, awareness and management of diseases in the community (Pittman, 2010). The HFM, a determinant health model is developed by Bob Evans and Greg Stoddart in 1990. The HFM provides a broad spectrum for understanding health, and the factors that interfere with, and influence the health of individuals in the community. There are features to put into consideration for, in determining the factors that affect many diseases; hypertension, diabetes, and heart disease, or influence of health on a community (Kindig & McGinnis, 2007).