Читать книгу Contemporary Health Studies - Louise Warwick-Booth - Страница 38

The medical model of health is located within a scientific paradigm of understanding. It is sometimes also referred to as the ‘biomedical’ model (Blaxter, 2010), the medical model, the ‘biological’ model or even the ‘Western scientific medical model’. The medical model draws on scientific, mechanical, individualistic and reductionist understandings of what health is and views health in terms of pathology, disease, diagnosis and treatment. The physical body is viewed as being separate from social or psychological processes, sometimes referred to as ‘mind–body dualism’ (Green et al., 2019: 31). Health is seen as being ‘located’ in the individual body and the causes of ill-health are viewed as being biological or physiological in origin, requiring expert intervention. Health, according to a medical view, is conceived of as the absence of disease or ‘abnormality’. If medically defined illness and disorder are absent then health is assumed to be present. The medical model is, and has been, very influential in terms of understandings of what health is. The dominance of ideas of health as ‘the absence of illness’ in mainstream discourse about health is testimony to this. The medical model does, however, have some distinct advantages and through technological advances in scientific knowledge it has been extremely influential in Western societies within the last two centuries. As a result the medical model of health forms the basis of much health-care provision within these contexts.

However, the medical model of health has faced heavy criticism. One of the main criticisms is that the wider context is given little attention and therefore the numerous social, psychological and environmental factors that influence, or determine, health are not considered. It is difficult to account for the complexity of health if we consider it solely in biological terms, using the medical model. Another criticism of the medical model is that its view of health as the absence of disease or abnormality can be seen as being rather negative (Earle, 2007a). Surely health is about more than just this? Are we necessarily healthy simply because we are not ill? However, this is problematic because, as Duncan (2007: 8) argues, one of the main difficulties with arguing that health is about more than simply the absence of disease or abnormality is that this can lead to ‘muddle and confusion’, which may render meaningful description ‘impossible’. In addition, the widespread use of the medical model of health has increased perceptions that the responsibility for health, and indeed the control of it, lies with the individual (Jackson, 2007). This is a position that is reflected in more contemporary neo-liberalist stances in the Western world that emphasize personal responsibility for health (Friesen, 2017). This position is challenged by other concepts of health such as the social model, which will now be discussed in more detail. Before we move on to the next section take some time to carry out learning task 1.3.