The Biomedical and Biopsychosocial Models of Health and Illness - Essay Example

Keeping these limitations in mind, there emerged two different models in medicines namely biomedical as well biopsychosocial model of health. In 1977, George Engel, an American Psychiatrist introduced one of the most important theories in medicine named biopsychosocial or BPS as it is known. In its essence, the BPS model accounts for the biological, sociological, and psychological variables as the main reasons behind any disease in any person. Thus accordingly, it was hypothesized that the biological, psychological which include emotions, feelings, thoughts, etc and the sociological factors play a very critical role in the overall functioning of the human body within the context of disease and health.

With the introduction of this model, the ambit of the scope of viewing the health of the persons from different perspectives increased. On the other hand, the biomedical health model is in around two centuries and is considered as a predominant model in terms of making the diagnosis of the disease. The basic philosophy behind this model is the fact that it concentrates on the physical processes such as pathology, biochemistry, and physiology of a person. (Wikipedia, 2008). 

The Biomedical model focus on the physical causes of the disease in a person whereas BPS takes a broader view but includes the physical or biological reasons as the number one reason behind a person’s disease. - Both the models of health view disease as a process that is acquired, however, BPS go further to claim that the disease is not just the result of a person’s internal physiology but it is a combination of internal as well as external events which have an impact on the person’s body.