Biopsychosocial Medicine: An Integrated Approach to Understanding Illness

The biopsychosocial model is an approach to medicine which stresses the importance of a holistic approach. It considers factors outside the biological process of illness when trying to understand health and disease. In this approach, a person's social context and psychological wellbeing are key factors in their illness and recovery, along with their thoughts, beliefs and emotions. Biopsychosocial Medicine examines the concept and the utility of this approach, taking the examples of arthritis, cancer, diabetes, lower back pain, irritable bowel syndrome and depression to show how the model can be used in practice. It shows how effective it can be and provides solutions for implementing it in medical practice in all specialties.