TY - JOUR
T1 - The biopsychosocial-digital approach to health and disease
T2 - Call for a paradigm expansion
AU - Ahmadvand, Alireza
AU - Gatchel, Robert
AU - Brownstein, John
AU - Nissen, Lisa
N1 - Funding Information:
1School of Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Health, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia 2Department of Psychology, College of Science, University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, TX, United States 3Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States 4Computational Health Informatics Program, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, United States *all authors contributed equally
Publisher Copyright:
© Alireza Ahmadvand, Robert Gatchel, John Brownstein, Lisa Nissen.
PY - 2018/5
Y1 - 2018/5
N2 - Digital health is an advancing phenomenon in modern health care systems. Currently, numerous stakeholders in various countries are evaluating the potential benefits of digital health solutions at the individual, population, and/or organizational levels. Additionally, driving factors are being created from the customer-side of the health care systems to push health care providers, policymakers, or researchers to embrace digital health solutions. However, health care providers may differ in their approach to adopt these solutions. Health care providers are not assumed to be appropriately trained to address the requirements of integrating digital health solutions into daily everyday practices and procedures. To adapt to the changing demands of health care systems, it is necessary to expand relevant paradigms and to train human resources as required. In this article, a more comprehensive paradigm will be proposed, based on the 'biopsychosocial model' of assessing health and disease, originally introduced by George L Engel. The “biopsychosocial model” must be leveraged to include a “digital” component, thus suggesting a 'biopsychosocial-digital' approach to health and disease. Modifications to the “biopsychosocial” model and transition to the “biopsychosocial-digital” model are explained. Furthermore, the emerging implications of understanding health and disease are clarified pertaining to their relevance in training human resources for health care provision and research.
AB - Digital health is an advancing phenomenon in modern health care systems. Currently, numerous stakeholders in various countries are evaluating the potential benefits of digital health solutions at the individual, population, and/or organizational levels. Additionally, driving factors are being created from the customer-side of the health care systems to push health care providers, policymakers, or researchers to embrace digital health solutions. However, health care providers may differ in their approach to adopt these solutions. Health care providers are not assumed to be appropriately trained to address the requirements of integrating digital health solutions into daily everyday practices and procedures. To adapt to the changing demands of health care systems, it is necessary to expand relevant paradigms and to train human resources as required. In this article, a more comprehensive paradigm will be proposed, based on the 'biopsychosocial model' of assessing health and disease, originally introduced by George L Engel. The “biopsychosocial model” must be leveraged to include a “digital” component, thus suggesting a 'biopsychosocial-digital' approach to health and disease. Modifications to the “biopsychosocial” model and transition to the “biopsychosocial-digital” model are explained. Furthermore, the emerging implications of understanding health and disease are clarified pertaining to their relevance in training human resources for health care provision and research.
KW - Biopsychosocial Model to Health
KW - Digital health
KW - Digital technologies
KW - Disease
KW - Human resources for health
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85047538457&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.2196/jmir.9732
DO - 10.2196/jmir.9732
M3 - Review article
C2 - 29776900
AN - SCOPUS:85047538457
SN - 1438-8871
VL - 20
JO - Journal of Medical Internet Research
JF - Journal of Medical Internet Research
IS - 5
M1 - e189
ER -