Biopsychosocial is a medicine model which studies the cause and evolution of diseases considering the biological aspects, psychological and social. It is opposed to the biomedical model, which is centered on the disease and is restricted to biological factors.
From a biopsychosocial perspective, health and disease are understood as a result not only of interaction of the biological factors of the individual's organism, but also of the environment in which they live and their relationships social.
This term was first used in 1977 by physician and psychiatrist George L. Engel, in a publication in the scientific journal science, where he reported the need to create a new medical model.
Biopsychosocial Model X Biomedical Model
O biomedical model is the one who studies the cause and progress of diseases based on exclusively on biological factors, such as genetic factors, viruses and somatic abnormalities.
This model of medicine is centered on the disease and has a paradigm curative, that is, it works to cure the diseases that individuals develop. Such diseases are studied from a perspective
individualistic, considering only the individual and not their environmental and social context.THE Specialization is also another structural feature of the biomedical model, which divides health into specific areas (cardiology, dermatology, neurology, etc.) and treats each disease and symptom in a compartmentalized.
The model biopsychosocial, in turn, studies health and disease from a integral perspective. In addition to biological factors, it considers psychological and emotional conditions and the social and environmental context in which the individual is inserted.
In the biomedical model, health means the absence of disease, whereas in the biopsychosocial model, health is more broadly related to well-being.
know more about disease and quality of life.
Health in the biopsychosocial model
Health for the biopsychosocial model is comprehensively understood and also considers the individual's subjective dimensions. The biopsychosocial model rejects the mechanics of the biomedical and adopts a perspective interdisciplinary.
A healthy life, in this case, does not mean the absence of disease, but the conditions for a healthy life. Such as, for example, adequate housing and food, access to education and the job market, the possibility of living in peace and in a pollution-free environment.
Health, therefore, is the result of the interaction of numerous factors, which fall into three components:
- Biological component: diseases as a result of the functioning of the organism and biological factors such as viruses and bacteria.
- Psychological component: the individual's psychological conditions can affect the functioning of the body. Psychological disorders, for example, can be among the causes of illness.
- Social component: social, economic and environmental conditions affect health and can contribute to the emergence of disease.
According to researchers Fuster Belloch and González Olabarría, there are 6 principles that guide this model:
- The body is a biological, social and psychological organism. The individual receives information, interprets, assigns meaning and reacts in a certain way.
- Health and disease are in dynamic balance and are determined by the three components of the model, which interact and change constantly.
- The prevention, diagnosis and treatment of a disease must consider the biological, social and psychological components together.
- Diseases are not the result of just one factor, but a set of interacting factors.
- Professionals specialized in each of the three areas must act in an integrated manner for proper treatment.
- Health and physical, social and psychological well-being should not be restricted to a medical specialty, but worked in an interdisciplinary way.
See also the meaning of psychology and interdisciplinary.
The professional in the biopsychosocial model
For action based on a biopsychosocial model, it is necessary to rethink the prevailing practices and reframe the health, which is no longer seen from an individual's perspective and starts to be understood as a collective question.
Its about humanize health and understand the individual and their health in a comprehensive way, considering the biological aspects and also the patient's social context.
Therefore, in addition to the technical and instrumental issues of diagnosis, treatment and prevention of diseases, health professionals need to develop relational and communication skills with their patients.
This means that an individual's health must be understood as a set of biological, psychological and social aspects. This can be assimilated from active listening and the establishment of a relationship of trust between the professional and the patient.
See also the meaning of Humanization, health and public health.
