Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Nov 22;11(1):67-77.
doi: 10.1093/emph/eoac041. eCollection 2023.

Evobiopsychosocial medicine

Adam D Hunt  1 , Paul St-John Smith  2 , Riadh Abed  2
Affiliations

Evobiopsychosocial medicine

Adam D Hunt et al. Evol Med Public Health. .

Abstract

The biopsychosocial model remains the de facto framework of current healthcare, but lacks causational depth, scientific rigour, or any recognition of the importance of evolutionary theory for understanding health and disease. In this article it is updated to integrate Tinbergen's four questions with the three biopsychosocial levels. This 'evobiopsychosocial' schema provides a more complete framework for understanding causation of medical conditions. Its application is exemplified by tabulating depression, rheumatoid arthritis and COVID-19 within its format, which highlights the direct research and practical applications uniquely offered by evolutionary medicine. An evobiopsychosocial framework can serve as a useful tool to introduce evolutionary concepts into mainstream medicine by highlighting the broad and specific contributions of evolutionary analysis to researching, treating and preventing health conditions, providing a suitable next step for the mainstream model of medicine.

Keywords: biopsychosocial; education; evolutionary medicine; healthcare.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Engel GL. The need for a new medical model: a challenge for biomedicine. Science 1977;196:129–36. - PubMed
    1. Pilgrim D. The biopsychosocial model in Anglo-American psychiatry: past, present and future? J Ment Heal 2002;11:585–94.
    1. McLaren N. A critical review of the biopsychosocial model. Aust New Zeal J Psychiatry 1998;32:86–92. - PubMed
    1. Bolton D, Gillett G.. The Biopsychosocial Model of Health and Disease: New Philosophical and Scientific Developments. Cham: Palgrave Macmillian, 2019. - PubMed
    1. Frazier LD. The past, present, and future of the biopsychosocial model: a review of the biopsychosocial model of health and disease: new philosophical and scientific developments by Derek Bolton and grant Gillett. New Ideas Psychol 2020;57:100755.