After the Biomedical Technology Revolution: Where to Now for a Bio-Psycho-Social Approach to Social Work?

In the late twentieth century, the bio-psycho-social framework emerged as a powerful influence on the conceptualisation and delivery of health and rehabilitation services including social work services in these fields. The bio-psycho-social framework is built on a systems view of health and well-being (Garland and Howard, 2009). The systems perspective encourages medical and allied health professions, including social work, to recognise and to respond to the multiple systems impacting on individual health and well-being (Engel, 2003). This paper analyses how advances in biomedical technology, particularly in the fields of neuroscience and human genomics, are challenging the bio-psychosocial approach to practice. The paper examines the pressures on the social work profession to embrace biomedical science and points to the problems in doing so. The conclusion points to some tentative ways forward for social workers to engage critically with biomedical advances and to strengthen the bio-psycho-social framework in the interests of holistic and ethical approaches to social work practice.