biopsychosocial vs. biomedical model
...h traditional allopathic treatments, and are often chosen for spiritual, religious or personal reasons. Under a biopsychosocial approach, government legislation of the Medical Services Plan to provide coverage for Complementary Alternative Medicine is needed. Providing coverage for Complementary Alternative Medicine will serve to alleviate the pressure on traditional physicians and will facilitate a more comprehensive approach to health care Furthermore, a biopsychosocial model includes not only the diagnosis and treatment of medical problems, but also health promotion. Health promotion is defined as the process of enabling people to increase control over and improve their health. Health promotion is proactive rather than reactive and takes many forms, from smoking cessation programs to public education, public awareness campaigns and political activism. The profile of life-threatening illnesses has changed from primarily pathogen related diseases to lifestyle factors. A great deal of money is spent on treating conditions that are largely preventable, therefore, effective health promotion is essential to our well being and ultimately saves governments money on health expenditures. Increasingly, modern societies are looking beyond traditional science and placing their trust in alternative therapies. Alternative medicine is growing in popularity as evidenced by a recent study that suggested approximately one in four Canadians have sought treatment that falls outside the realms of normative western medical practice. There has been a great deal of public pressure to reform health care across Canada to incorporate alternative therapies with traditional medicine. In response to this, Ottawa has launched the office of Natural Health Products to provide Canadians with greater access to regulated, standardized and safe herbal remedies. Currently, Toronto’s Mount Sinai Hospital is implementing an acupuncture service, one of the first in a Canadian teaching hospital. It is evident that the traditional biomedical model can coexist with complementary disciplines. Medical practitioners are beginning to integrate other disciplines into their practice and diverge from a strictly biomedical model. Recently, two Victoria physicians opened the Health Works Integrated Medical Center, which provides multifaceted treatment options. The center includes three licensed family physicians, two naturopaths, two acupuncturists, a massage therapist and a nutritionist in a single practice. The clinic’s approach is to combine various therapies to optimize health. It requires the alternative therapies to be evidence-based, but the emphasis is on cooperation between disciplines to achieve the best outcome for the patient. After five months, the clinic was turning away new patients’ everyday. There h...