One way of using a biopsychosocial framework in pain management – iii

Before Christmas and the New Year break I was writing about how I use a biopsychosocial model in pain management – and I haven’t finished! To review: The first post was about the context or the ideas behind Engel’s original model, and my two key clinical questions – why is this person presenting in this way at this time, and what can be done to reduce distress and disability? The second post was about classical and operant conditioning and why these models are useful when we’re thinking about what a person does when they’re sore – and how their actions communicate to people around them. I also pointed out that many of these actions are not conscious, but have been learned and shaped from childhood, leading to a myriad of ways people express themselves when they’re in pain. One of the criticisms of this approach to pain management is that “the model” isn’t scientific (therefore doesn’t lend itself to generating hypotheses that can be tested), and a second is that it’s “too fuzzy” and doesn’t specify what should be “in” and what should be “out” in clinical reasoning. I don’t agree with either of these statements and today I hope to present why. Is a BPSM truly a “model”? What’s a model anyway? – one definition I’ve found is “In science, a model is a representation of an idea, an object or even a process or a system tha...
Source: HealthSkills Weblog - Category: Anesthesiology Authors: Tags: Clinical reasoning Pain Professional topics Research Science in practice biopsychosocial Source Type: blogs