Concepts
Health psychology/Models & behaviour · Behavioural model
Biopsychosocial model
What it means
Engel’s model: health and illness arise from interacting biological, psychological and social factors; the basis of holistic, person-centred care.
Worked example
Chronic back pain explained by disc pathology (bio) + fear-avoidance beliefs (psycho) + job loss and isolation (social).
In the exam
A man’s persistent pain is formulated in terms of his disc disease, his catastrophic beliefs about it, and his unemployment and isolation — all together.
What settles it
The biopsychosocial model is an explanatory FRAMEWORK for illness. The Health Belief Model specifically predicts whether someone will take a health ACTION.
Classically confused with
Health Belief Model
Source: Engel 1977