The Medical and Social Model of Health

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The Medical and Social Model of Health

The medical model is not only useful as an academic tool at the critical or theoretical level, it also appeals to health care practitioners at a practical level. The medical model is a scientific view on health and body functioning that was originated in the 19th century. This was when people were beginning to understand the functions of the human body and the ways in keeping the body healthy. The medical model of health was first based on the idea that the human body is like a machine; a car broke down, then it would need to be fixed. The concept of the medical model of health is highly supported by health and social care practitioners that focus on curing illness, rather than the inhibition of illness. They would focused on producing medicines, which would treat numerous diseases and surgeries, this could renovate different parts of the body. The health and social care practitioners value specialist medical services highly because health is viewed as the absence of diseases and illnesses. If someone was to become ill they would make an appointment to see a doctor because they see the doctor as someone to help cure them. The person involved in the treatment process has very little say. This means that whatever the doctor concludes about the health of the person would be final and the person is expected to carry out the advice of the doctor.

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The medical of health is associated with the negative definition of health because the model focuses on the individual physical body and explains diseases or illnesses and its symptoms as a physical restraints, an example would be accidents. The medical model of health does not look at the psychological factor as the social model does. The concept of the social model of health is that people are not disabled because of illnesses or injury, but how society is constructed. The medical model disagrees with the social model because injury is seen as the cause of disability and that the person with the disability is expected to learn how to adapt within society, instead of society adapting to them. In the medical model disabled people as an issue, they should be adjusted to fit into the world as it is. On the off chance that this isn't conceivable, then they should be shut away in a particular institution or isolated at home, where only their most elementary needs are met.  (accessed on 26/10/2015)

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The social model can be understood, in part, as a reaction to the limits of the medical model. This model is carefully linked with positive definitions of health. In the social model the health of individuals and communities is seen as the consequence of complex and interrelating Communal, economic, environmental and personal factors. The social model of health is the direct opposite of the medical model. This is because the social model tries to prevent people from becoming ill rather than waiting for them to become ill and then treating them. The model attempts to address the larger influences on health. These are social, cultural, environmental and economic factors rather than diseases and injuries. The social model of health shows that for health and wellbeing to be achieved, the social, environmental and economic factors that affect health need to be addressed alongside biological and medical factors. The social model of health discards the impartiality and scientific self-importance of the bio-medical model and regards reliance upon the scientific method as only one way to measure health. The social model of health acknowledges that health and illness are created socially and that the health we experience relates to the way society is organized. According to Gillespie and Gerhardt (1995) states that health has an historical, cultural and social context and cannot be understood unless we appreciate.

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Culture is a factor that can have a negative or positive impact on a person’s health. Catholics are strongly against the use of contraception, which can lead to sexual transmitted diseases or infections and unwanted pregnancies. This is because Catholics believe that God has created each human for procreation and this means that a catholic person should not use contraception because they are interfering with God’s creation and stopping the procreation from occurring. Another example of the impact culture can have an impact on a person’s help is the Jehovah Witness ...

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