After the Biomedical Technology Revolution: Where to Now for a Bio-Psycho-Social Approach to Social Work?

Abstract

In the late twentieth century, the bio-psycho-social framework emerged as a powerful influence on the conceptualisation and delivery of health and rehabilitation services including social work services in these fields. The bio-psycho-social framework is built on a systems view of health and well-being ( Garland and Howard, 2009). The systems perspective encourages medical and allied health professions, including social work, to recognise and to respond to the multiple systems impacting on individual health and well-being ( Engel, 2003). This paper analyses how advances in biomedical technology, particularly in the fields of neuroscience and human genomics, are challenging the bio-psycho-social approach to practice. The paper examines the pressures on the social work profession to embrace biomedical science and points to the problems in doing so. The conclusion points to some tentative ways forward for social workers to engage critically with biomedical advances and to strengthen the bio-psycho-social framework in the interests of holistic and ethical approaches to social work practice.

Applying a ‘signature pedagogy’ in the teaching of critical social work theory and practice

“…Re-examining social workers from the Settlement times, e.g. Ebba Pauli from Sweden, as is done on the course, can inspire us to talk about our practice in a different way, enabling us to reconnect with our historical (albeit western) value base (Healy, 2016). As pragmatists, Addams and Dewey believed that people and groups 'are able to alter their social trajectories and thereby possess some modicum of control over their destinies' (Schneiderhan, 2013 , p. 590).…”

Medical Perspective on Mental Health

“…Further, motivational interviewing approaches have been shown to enhance consumers' intention to change and are now regarded as evidence-based practices in the substance abuse field (Lundahl et al 2010). A relevant conclusion in this field, but also more broadly applicable in mental health, is that while the medical, and more particularly the brain disease, model should not be abandoned, its narrow application is unhelpful (Healy 2016).…”

“…Despite the recent dominance of the brain-disease model of mental illness, other models of mental disorder have also existed for some time and may be considered to complement (rather than replace) the brain-disease model. They have helped to reposition the person experiencing the mental disorder as a more active participant in their own recovery, particularly by emphasizing the centrality of the person's experiences in understanding psychiatric disorders (Healy 2016;Pemberton and Wainwright 2014). A good example is the biopsychosocial model which has been influential within psychiatry for some time.…”

Questioning the uncritical acceptance of neuroscience in child and family policy and practice: A review of challenges to the current doxa

“…Pollard, 1997) have been widely used in policy and parenting literature and media (Healy, 2015; (2015) is devoid of a detailed case history and fails to provide a comparison scale, both of which would be evidence of academic rigour.…”