Patient as body or person

pp. 49-61

in: James A. Marcum, Humanizing modern medicine, Berlin, Springer, 2008

Abstract

One of the most important components of any medical worldview is the nature of the patient. The patient is and should be the center and focus of a medical worldview, for without the patient there literally is no need for medicine. Consequently, a medical worldview is important for perceiving the patient and that perception in turn shapes other components of a medical worldview, such as the nature of disease and health. The biomedical model envisions the patient as a mechanical body composed of separate parts that interact for functional purposes. Although there is interaction among the parts, it is minimal in nature and limited only to body parts. This view of the patient is, of course, a major reason for the quality-of-care crisis in modern medicine.Humanistic or humane models, however, envision the patient as an embodied subject in terms of mind and body or mind/body integration, or as a unique person or self. In addition, the patient qua subject, person, or self, is located within a cultural and social environment or lifeworld. This view of the patient, according to humane practitioners, can help to resolve the quality-of-care crisis by taking into consideration the patient as a person rather than simply as a body part. In this chapter, the biomedical and humanistic conceptions of the patient are examined in terms of these differences.