Oral Health | Clinical and Risk Asessment | Holistic assessment of the patient

Holistic assessment of the patient
Session overview
Description
This session looks at holism, i.e. the integration of physical, psychological and social components of health problems. It explores patients’ and dentists’ perceptions of holism and how these influence the presentation of problems, communication, diagnoses and the sharing of management planning.

Learning objectives
By the end of this session you will be able to:

• explain what is lacking in traditional dentistry, and why there is a need for a holistic approach
• describe the holistic approach
• apply the holistic approach to a case study in order to fully understand the patient’s illness

Prerequisites
Before commencing this session you should:

• be familiar with Engel’s biopsychosocial model [1]

In the UK, in the 21st century, our approach to understanding, teaching and learning dentistry, and other health professions, is deeply rooted in a number of philosophical themes. These include the Cartesian approach, reductionism and linear causality.

However, health is multi-dimensional and illness has far more complex antecedents than identifiable agents of disease. A holistic approach recognises the patient perspective. It acknowledges that the patient’s thoughts and feelings about an illness can affect their level of suffering, and speed of recovery.

A holistic approach includes acknowledging that traditional dentistry is not the only resource available and trusted by patients. Psychological approaches, social and governmental policy interventions, and complementary medicine, are some of the aspects of a holistic approach.