Shona Thomas
M1 – Compare the medical and social models of health
The medical model definition of health is the negative approach to health which is
the “absence of disease”1, as it doesn’t consider the emotional and social sides of an
individual’s wellbeing. It “is based on knowledge about the biological causes of
disease. It is a medical model of care practised by doctors and/or health professional
and is associated with the diagnosis, cure and treatment of disease. ”2 There are
many advantages of this approach to health as its overall aim is to improve people’s
quality of life therefore this could result in increased life expectancy because there
will be more advanced treatment which would benefit endless amounts of people, so
it encourages research into an illness rather than assuming that nothing can be done.
Also, the research allows us to realise why illnesses impact our health and how we
can avoid them and many successful treatments have been the result of this
research. An example of this would be cancer, the research which has been carried
out has benefitted millions of people as it can cure the disease if it’s caught fast
enough and that is why the medical model is based upon quickly treating the disease
before it escalates. The better treatments come out of people helping develop
research which means that causes can be found which makes it a lot easier to find a
cure. This all happens because the approach itself sees illness and disease as a
serious problem which needs to be solved quickly in order to result in less pain and
suffering. 3 An example of this would be that cancer is a disease which needs to be
treated quickly before the health of an individual deteriorates and could result in
death. However, there are criticisms to this approach because of the cost, there are a
lot of medications as well as treatments which are very expensive. The medical
model also focuses on the cause and effect rather than educating people on how
they are able to prevent an illness from occurring as well as how to keep or
encourage good health. An example of this is “The Go For Your Life community
education program which provides a variety of activities and services to promote an
active lifestyle and nutritious diet.”4 Therefore the people within a society may not be
1 OCR textbook
2 https://mentalhealthnursetraining.wordpress.com/2012/11/05/medical-model-of-health/
3 OCR textbook
4 http://www.healthinfonet.ecu.edu.au/key-resources/programs-projects?pid=675
M1 – Compare the medical and social models of health
The medical model definition of health is the negative approach to health which is
the “absence of disease”1, as it doesn’t consider the emotional and social sides of an
individual’s wellbeing. It “is based on knowledge about the biological causes of
disease. It is a medical model of care practised by doctors and/or health professional
and is associated with the diagnosis, cure and treatment of disease. ”2 There are
many advantages of this approach to health as its overall aim is to improve people’s
quality of life therefore this could result in increased life expectancy because there
will be more advanced treatment which would benefit endless amounts of people, so
it encourages research into an illness rather than assuming that nothing can be done.
Also, the research allows us to realise why illnesses impact our health and how we
can avoid them and many successful treatments have been the result of this
research. An example of this would be cancer, the research which has been carried
out has benefitted millions of people as it can cure the disease if it’s caught fast
enough and that is why the medical model is based upon quickly treating the disease
before it escalates. The better treatments come out of people helping develop
research which means that causes can be found which makes it a lot easier to find a
cure. This all happens because the approach itself sees illness and disease as a
serious problem which needs to be solved quickly in order to result in less pain and
suffering. 3 An example of this would be that cancer is a disease which needs to be
treated quickly before the health of an individual deteriorates and could result in
death. However, there are criticisms to this approach because of the cost, there are a
lot of medications as well as treatments which are very expensive. The medical
model also focuses on the cause and effect rather than educating people on how
they are able to prevent an illness from occurring as well as how to keep or
encourage good health. An example of this is “The Go For Your Life community
education program which provides a variety of activities and services to promote an
active lifestyle and nutritious diet.”4 Therefore the people within a society may not be
1 OCR textbook
2 https://mentalhealthnursetraining.wordpress.com/2012/11/05/medical-model-of-health/
3 OCR textbook
4 http://www.healthinfonet.ecu.edu.au/key-resources/programs-projects?pid=675
