Introduction
Health is a crucial aspect of every individual with there being two fundamental models to health. The two models are the biopsychosocial model and the biomedical model. The two models have left a compelling impression on healthcare and the progression of treatments. The biopsychosocial model “focuses on the biology or physiology underlying health; the psychology or thoughts, feelings, and behaviors influencing health; and the ways that society and culture influence health” (Gurung, 2014). On the other hand, the biomedical model is “an approach that sees health primarily as the state in which disease is absent” (Gurung, 2014). The purpose of this paper is to compare and contrast the models …show more content…
Distinctively, the biopsychosocial model is a broad model that does not look at one single factor when regarding an illness but assumes many causes and effects are produced by the illness. On the other hand, the biomedical model does not take into consideration any possible social factors which makes this certain model very limiting. Psychological causes have no effect to illness according to the biomedical model. Hence, the biomedical model follows a single factor by reducing all possibilities and no contributing factors for an …show more content…
One of the leading causes of death in the world include cancer (Gurung, 2014). Essentially, cancer brings out different effects on the two health models. A health professional would take into consideration all components relating to cancer. This is where a health profession would decide which model is best used for this type of illness. Most professions would diagnose that the biomedical model would be the best option because it defines the original cause of cancer from a biological sense. Cancer “causes cells to grow uncontrollably, harming surrounding tissue and limiting normal function” (Gurung, 2014, p.309). Thus, a profession would argue that cancer is not defined by psychological or sociology. Although, another profession would argue that psychological and sociological factors have been at play in leading to this illness. I think depending on the health professional is the deciding factor in which model they believe is more effective than the other. Which brings me to which of the models is more prepared to research. While the biomedical model has been around longer than the biopsychosocial model, it no longer considers what the biopsychosocial models includes (Engel, 1997). The biopsychosocial model includes psychological and behavioral aspects of illness. While the biomedical model lends itself more appropriate for research, it does not consider the