An Introduction to Exploring How Biological, Psychological, Cultural, Societal, and Environmental Factors Of Life Affects Physical Health.
Human beings are extraordinarily complex systems and illness is caused by a multitude of factors and not by a single causal factor. Health psychology suggests these factors emanates from a combination of Biological (e.g. a virus), Psychological (e.g. behaviours, beliefs) and Social (e.g. employment) factors aspects of everyday life. This is an attempt to move away from a simple linear model of health.
In the field of physical health and psychological well-being, Health psychology specializes in exploring biological, psychological, cultural, societal, and environmental factors of life, and how each of these affects physical health.
This holistic view of our overall health gives us a beam of hope that the route or path to achieving and maintaining “complete physical, mental and social wellbeing” is not so unattainable. But only a conscious and determined effort to apply these principles of clinical health psychology is all it takes.
The first step to attaining a balanced physical, mental and social wellbeing is to get adequate and reliable information about your health, illness, and healthcare. The next logical step is to set small achievable goals towards the practical application information acquired. BabySteps PsychMag is poised to help you take charge of your mental health and social wellness!!!
The Bio-Psycho-Social Model is the central strategy of health psychology. How this model provides a better understanding of our Physical, Mental and Social wellness will be discussed in this article
The Bio-Psycho-Social Model and its Application to Health Psychology
Health has been traditionally equated with the absence of disease. Or the lack of a fundamental pathology, whereas, biologically driven pathogens and conditions wound render an individual “diseased”. This is the view of the biomedical model of illness. This perspective includes the idea that illness and injury are biological problems with biomedical solutions. Therefore, when someone is ill or injured only the physical self is affected and must be treated.
According to Jane Ogden, (2004) the biomedical model of medicine can be understood in terms of its answers to the following question;
Who is responsible for illness? Because illness is seen as arising from biological changes beyond their control, individuals are not seen as responsible for their illness. They are regarded as victims of some external force causing internal changes.
How should illness be treated? The biomedical model regards treatment in terms of vaccination, surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy, all of which aim to change the physical state of the body.
Who is responsible for treatment? The responsibility for treatment rests with the medical profession.
What is the relationship between health and illness? Within the biomedical model, health and illness are seen as qualitatively different – you are either healthy or ill, there is no continuum between the two.
What is the relationship between the mind and the body? According to the biomedical model of medicine, the mind and body function independently of each other. This is comparable to a traditional dualistic model of the mind–body split. From this perspective, the mind is incapable of influencing physical matter and the mind and body are defined as separate entities. The mind is seen as abstract and relating to feelings and thoughts, and the body is seen in terms of physical matter such as skin, muscles, bones, brain and organs. Changes in the physical matter are regarded as independent of changes in state of mind.
What is the role of psychology in health and illness? Within traditional biomedicine, illness may have psychological consequences, but not psychological causes. For example, cancer may cause unhappiness but mood is not seen as related to either the onset or progression of the cancer.
The biomedical model is most characteristics of medicine and great advances are made using this model, it is most successful against infectious agents, but less successful against lifestyle-related diseases such as heart disease and some cancer. This biomedical model is more mechanistic or mechanical than the Biopsychosocial model and is based on molecular biology. One limitation is that it ignores psychological and sociocultural factors that are important in diagnoses, treatment, and recovery because health is clearly related to attitudes, emotions, and personality traits as well as exposure to viruses and bacteria
However, such a narrow scope on health limited the understanding of wellbeing, thwarted treatment efforts and more importantly suppressed treatment measures (Saheed Lakhan, 2006). Hence the need for medical practitioners to incorporate a holistic view of health in sound medical application gave birth to the Biopsychosocial model of health and illness.
Therefore, George Engel (1977, 1980) an American psychiatrist introduced a major theory of medicine- the Biopsychosocial model. The Biopsychosocial model accounted for biological, psychological and sociological interconnected spectrum, each as a system of the body.
In fact, the Biopsychosocial model is a dramatic shift from disease to health (The biomedical model), recognizing that psychological factors (e.g., beliefs, relationships, stress) impact greatly on the recovery, progression and recuperation from illness to disease. The concept of wellness is being stressed and the state of being in good health is accompanied by a good quality of life and strong relationships.
The Biopsychosocial model represented an attempt to integrate the psychological (the ‘psycho’) and the environmental (the ‘social’) into the traditional Biomedical (the ‘bio’) model of health as follows:
(1).The bio contributing factors included genetics, viruses, bacteria and structural defects.
(2). The Psycho aspects of health and illness were described in terms of cognitions (e.g. expectations of health), emotions (e.g. fear of treatment), and behaviours (e.g. smoking, diet, exercise or alcohol consumption)
(3). The social aspects of health were described in terms of social norms of behavior (e.g. the social norm of smoking or not smoking), pressures to change behaviours (e.g. peer group expectations, parental pressure), social values on health (e.g. whether health was regarded as a good or a bad thing), social class and ethnicity.
Health psychology is probably the most recent development in this process of including psychology into an understanding of health.
It was also described by Matarazzo (1980: 815) as the aggregate of the specific educational, scientific and professional contribution of the discipline of psychology to the promotion and maintenance of health, the promotion and treatment of illness and related dysfunction.
Jane Ogden, (2004) also stated thatealth psychology can be understood in terms of the same questions that were asked of the biomedical model.
What causes illness? Health psychology suggests that human beings should be seen as complex systems and that illness is caused by a multitude of factors and not by a single causal factor. Health psychology therefore attempts to move away from a simple linear model of health and claims that illness can be caused by a combination of biological (e.g. a virus), psychological (e.g. behaviours, beliefs) and social (e.g. employment) factors. This approach reflects the biopsychosocial model of health and illness, which was developed by Engel (1977, 1980).
Who is responsible for illness? Because illness is regarded as a result of a combination of factors, the individual is no longer simply seen as a passive victim. For example, the recognition of a role for behaviour in the cause of illness means that the individual may be held responsible for their health and illness.
How should illness be treated? According to health psychology, the whole person should be treated, not just the physical changes that have taken place. This can take the form of behaviour change, encouraging changes in beliefs and coping strategies and compliance with medical recommendations.
Who is responsible for treatment? Because the whole person is treated, not just their physical illness, the patient is therefore in part responsible for their treatment. This may take the form of responsibility to take medication, responsibility to change beliefs and behaviour. They are not seen as a victim.
What is the relationship between health and illness? From this perspective, health and illness are not qualitatively different, but exist on a continuum. Rather than being either healthy or ill, individuals progress along this continuum from healthiness to illness and back again.
What is the relationship between the mind and body? Health psychology maintains that the mind and body interact. This represents a departure from the traditional medical perspective, in that these two entities are seen as influencing each other, they are still categorized as separate –the existence of two different terms (the mind/the body) suggests a degree of separation and ‘interaction’ can only occur between distinct structures.
What is the role of psychology in health and illness? Health psychology regards psycho-logical factors not only as possible consequences of illness but as contributing to its aetiology. and considering both a direct and indirect association between psychology and health. The direct pathway is reflected in the physiological literature and is illustrated by research exploring the impact of stress on illnesses such as coronary heart disease and cancer. From this perspective the way a person experiences their life (‘I am feeling stressed’) has a direct impact upon their body which can change their health status. The indirect pathway is reflected more in the behavioural literature and is illustrated by research exploring smoking, diet, exercise and sexual behaviour. From this perspective, the ways a person thinks (‘I am feeling stressed’) influences their behaviour (‘I will have a cigarette’) which in turn can impact on their health.
In summary, how health psychology challenges the biomedical model’s mind–body split by suggesting a role for the mind or the interaction of the mind and body in both the cause and treatment of illness have been reviewed. Also, the biomedical model is a narrow view of illness which posits that illness is the result of only biological factors such as viruses and bacteria is being challenged by health psychology which argues that health and illness is affected by a multitude of factors(biological, psychological, sociocultural) and not a single factor.
Note: The meaning and nature and the frame work of health, wellness and health psychology will be reviewed in the next article in other to grasps the whole context of our health, illness. Please leave a comment after reading, and share!!!
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