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Medical Model

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Encyclopedia of Clinical Neuropsychology

Synonyms

Disease model

Definition

The medical model is a model of health which suggests that disease is detected and identified through a systematic process of observation, description, and differentiation, in accordance with standard accepted procedures, such as medical examinations, tests, or a set of symptom descriptions. There are three major criticisms of the model that: (1) it supports the false notion of dualism in health, whereby biological and psychological problems are treated separately; (2) it focuses too heavily on disability and impairment rather than on individual’s abilities and strengths; and (3) it encourages paternalism within medicine rather than patient empowerment.

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Differential Diagnosis

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References and Readings

  • Hofmann, B. (2005). Simplified models of the relationship between health and disease. Theoretical Medicine, 26, 355–377.

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  • Shah, P., & Mountain, D. (2007). The medical model is dead – long live the medical model. British Journal of Psychiatry, 191, 375–377.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, University of Florida, 32611, Gainesville, FL, USA

    Zoë Swaine

Authors
  1. Zoë Swaine
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, and Professor of Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry Virginia Commonwealth University – Medical Center Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, VCU, 980542, Richmond, Virginia, 23298-0542, USA

    Jeffrey S. Kreutzer

  2. Kessler Foundation Research Center, 1199 Pleasant Valley Way, West Orange, NJ, 07052, USA

    John DeLuca

  3. Professor of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, and Neurology and Neuroscience, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey – New Jersey Medical School, New Jersey, USA

    John DeLuca

  4. Independent Practice, 564 M.O.B. East, 100 E. Lancaster Ave., Wynnewood, PA, 19096, USA

    Bruce Caplan

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© 2011 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC

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Swaine, Z. (2011). Medical Model. In: Kreutzer, J.S., DeLuca, J., Caplan, B. (eds) Encyclopedia of Clinical Neuropsychology. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-79948-3_2131

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-79948-3_2131

  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-0-387-79947-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-0-387-79948-3

  • eBook Packages: Behavioral Science

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