The Biopsychosocial Model in Practice: Bridging Rehabilitation Strategies for Persons with Disabilities and Psychosocial Care for Older Adults in Community-Based Palliative Care

Disability and old age are two of the most significant, and most frequently medicalised, human conditions, yet both are fundamentally biopsychosocial in nature. An estimated 1.3 billion people worldwide live with significant disability, and the global population of older adults is projected to reach 2.1 billion by 2050. Health systems that respond only to the biological dimension of these conditions routinely fail their psychological and social dimensions, leaving people isolated, anxious, and without a sense of dignity or continuity in their lives. This paper brings together two related strands of inquiry conducted by the same research team to argue for a common, biopsychosocial response to both populations. The first strand is a structured review of literature examining how the biopsychosocial model of disability can inform effective, multidisciplinary rehabilitation strategies. The second strand is a qualitative, phenomenological case study of six older adults receiving Community-Based Palliative Care (CBPC) in Kerala, examining whether the CBPC system meets their psychosocial needs. Read together, the two strands show a consistent pattern: biological/physical care is comparatively well delivered in both disability rehabilitation and elderly palliative care, but psychological, social, and spiritual needs are inconsistently met, largely because of the absence of trained social workers and psychologists within multidisciplinary teams, uneven distribution of community volunteers, and fragmented family and institutional support. The paper argues that the biopsychosocial model offers a shared conceptual foundation for rehabilitation and palliative care alike, and that embedding professional social work and psychological support into both systems is essential to achieving genuinely holistic, person-centered outcomes. Int. J. Soc. Sc. Manage. Vol. 13, Issue-4: 91-97.