What is the Medical Model of Disability?
The Medical Model of Disability is the more traditional understanding of disability in which disability is equated with impairment. Disability is seen as a result of a physical condition, inevitably reducing the individual’s life chances. According to this model, a compassionate or just society should invest resources to attempt to cure ‘disabilities’ (impairments) medically or to improve functioning and make disabled persons more “normal”. Under the Medical Model the medical profession has significant responsibility and potential for helping disabled people. The Medical Model of disability sees the disabled person as the problem – the focus is on the impairment, rather than removing the barriers which affect the person.
