The biomedical approach and the social model of health for VCE Health and Human Development Unit 3 AoS 2

What this dot point is asking

The 2025 study design key knowledge includes "the biomedical approach to health and improvements in medical technology" and "the concept of the social model of health and the Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion (not including the principles of the social model of health)". The key skill is to "describe the relationship between biomedical and social models of health, including the strengths and limitations of each".

The VCAA FAQ (updated February 2026) says students should know each model, describe the relationship between them and their strengths and limitations, and discuss how each can improve health and wellbeing (dimensions) and health status (indicators). It lists what the concept of the social model covers:

• it targets the broader determinants of health (environmental and sociocultural factors);
• it focuses on the impact of lifestyle-based disease;
• it focuses on health promotion and prevention through policies and education;
• it targets whole communities;
• it addresses inequities in health status;
• the Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion acts as an example of the enactment of the social model of health.

The 2025 examiners used exactly this list to mark 2025 Q4b.

The biomedical approach

The biomedical approach sees health as the absence of disease and focuses on the physical or biological aspects of illness. It is practised by doctors, specialists and other health professionals, largely in hospitals and clinics, and relies on:

• diagnosis: identifying disease through tests, imaging and examination;
• treatment: medicines, surgery and therapies;
• cure or management: restoring health or controlling a condition;
• research and technology: developing new treatments and equipment.

Improvements in medical technology since 1900

The ABS attributes the continuing fall in mortality in the second half of the twentieth century to improving social conditions and "advances in medical technology such as mass immunisation and antibiotics" (Australian Social Trends 1995). Life expectancy at birth has reached 81.1 years for males and 85.1 years for females (2022-2024, ABS).

Strengths of the biomedical approach

• Can cure many conditions and extend life, including in emergencies and acute illness.
• Drives research and technology, leading to new treatments.
• Produces measurable, often rapid improvements for the individual patient.
• Improves quality of life for people living with chronic conditions (for example joint replacements, insulin).

Limitations of the biomedical approach

• Expensive: Australia spent $270.5 billion on health in 2023-24, about 10 per cent of GDP (AIHW), much of it on hospitals, specialists and medicines; costs rise with new technology and an ageing population, threatening sustainability.
• Reactive: it usually acts after illness has occurred and does not address the causes, so the same conditions keep occurring.
• Relies on professionals and technology, so access is weaker in rural and remote areas and for people who cannot afford out-of-pocket costs.
• Not every condition can be cured, and treatment is not always quick (the 2024 examiners said calling it a "quick fix" is inaccurate).
• Does not always promote good health and wellbeing beyond the physical dimension.

The social model of health

The social model recognises that health is shaped by the conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work and age, not just by biology. It emerged from the 1970s onwards as chronic, lifestyle-related diseases replaced infectious diseases as the main causes of death, and it was formalised internationally in the Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion (1986).

Why it matters today. In 2024, five mostly chronic disease groups (cancer, mental health and substance use disorders, musculoskeletal conditions, cardiovascular diseases and neurological conditions) caused 64 per cent of Australia's total burden of disease, and over one-third (36 per cent) of the total burden was attributable to modifiable risk factors such as overweight and obesity, tobacco use and dietary risks (AIHW, Australian Burden of Disease Study 2024). That preventable share is the social model's target.

Examples:

• tobacco control laws, taxes and Quit campaigns (see tobacco health promotion);
• healthy eating initiatives and the Health Star Rating;
• programs led by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities;
• building parks, bike paths and shade; school physical education policies.

Strengths of the social model

• Prevents disease and injury before they occur, reducing incidence, morbidity and premature mortality.
• Reaches whole communities, including people who rarely see a doctor.
• Addresses the causes of ill health (income, education, environments, culture), not just symptoms.
• Reduces inequities by directing effort to groups with the greatest need.
• Cost-effective in the long term, easing pressure on the health system.

Limitations of the social model

• Not every condition can be prevented (for example many genetic conditions or cancers not linked to known risk factors).
• Results take time and can be hard to measure or attribute to one program.
• Relies on people and communities acting on messages, which some ignore.
• Does not treat people who are already sick or drive new medical technology.

The relationship between the two

The biomedical approach and the social model are complementary and interdependent:

• The social model reduces incidence (fewer people develop the disease), while the biomedical approach reduces mortality and morbidity among those who do.
• Screening programs show the link: education and invitations to screen (social model) lead to early detection and treatment (biomedical).
• A strength of one covers a limitation of the other: prevention cannot cure an existing heart attack; surgery cannot stop the next person smoking.
• Both contributed to the fall in cardiovascular death rates after about 1970 (from around 450 to around 150 deaths per 100,000 by 2019, as read from the AIHW graph in the 2023 exam): tobacco control and awareness of blood pressure and cholesterol reduced risk, while medicines, bypass surgery, stents and coronary care treated disease.

Command terms and how to answer them

• Describe an initiative based on the social model (2025 Q4b): describe the initiative, then show which aspect of the social model it reflects (determinants, lifestyle disease, promotion and prevention, whole communities, inequities, Ottawa Charter) and how it would change a behaviour or outcome.
• Describe an advantage or limitation: explain why the feature is an advantage or limitation, and link it to one improvement in health status (2023 report).
• Analyse the relationship: explain how each model contributes to the same improvement and state explicitly how they work together (2022 Q11).
• Evaluate: weigh strengths and limitations of each and judge which contributes more to a given outcome, and why both are needed.

How this dot point appears in the VCE exam

• Short answer (3 to 4 marks): describe a social model initiative (2025 Q4b) or one advantage and one limitation of the biomedical approach for an improvement in data (2023 Q10c).
• Analyse (6 marks): the relationship between the models for a named improvement (2022 Q11).
• Extended response (10 marks): the biomedical approach alongside 'old' public health and the Ottawa Charter in explaining improvements in health status since 1900 (2024 Q14).