CONCEPT OF MAN: Bio Psycho-Social
and Spiritual
HolisticBeing
“One needs to view MAN in his totality — a unified
whole much greater than and different from the sum of all
its parts. A composite being of biological,
psychological, social and spiritual systems, he is born
adequately equipped to cope with environmental stresses
both within him and outside.”
Definition of Terms
Behavior
 The overt response of an individual toward stimuli
in his environment.
Community
 An aggregate of families living in a specific
facility bounded together by common interests
and goals.
Culture
 The total pattern of human behavior and its
products embodied in thought, speech, action and
artifacts transmitted to succeeding generations
using tools, language and abstract thoughts.
Disease
 The interruption of health due to invasion of the
body by microorganisms, to trauma, to mal or
dysfunction of the body parts due to age,
nutritional deficiency or metabolic disorder.
Family
 A basic unit of society composed of biological or
sociological parents and children born of or
adopted by them.
Health
 Optimum level of wellness in an individual which
allows him to function adequately in daily life
activities.
Personality
 The complex characteristics that distinguish a
particular individual from another or characterizes
him in his relationship with others.
Religion
 A personal awareness of the existence of a
Supreme Being or of Supernatural Powers, as
expressed in feelings of reverence, worship and
faith.
Society
 An enduring and cooperating social group whose
members have developed organized patterns of
relationship through interaction with one another.
The Study of Man as a bio-psychosocial and spiritual
being
Atomistic approach
– Studying the structure of the human body; its
components and functions.
 Views man as an organism composed of different
organ systems, each system composed of organs
and each organ composed of tissue cells.
approach
– Studying man in all aspects of his behavior and his
relationship with others in his environment.
 Views man as a whole organism with interrelated
and interdependent parts functioning to produce
behavior unacceptable or acceptable to him or
society.
Organismic Behavior
(based on two beliefs by Byrne and Thompson)
1. Man normally responds as a unified whole
 mind and body work as one
 what affects one affects the other
 neither one stands alone
Example: seeing a crime frightens a lady resulting to
increased heart rate, BP and RR....In her flight to safety, all
the cells of her body participate in removing her from site
of danger.
2. Man as a whole is different from and more than the
sum of his component parts
 given any set of stimuli he responds as predicted,
or becomes unpredictable of other extraneous
variables
 his responses are varied and numerous
Organismic behavior refers to observable features and
actions that reflect man’s functioning as a unified whole
within the environment in which he exists.
Behavioral features point out to the observable
characteristics of the physical and external shell of man.
This shell gives us clues to the internal state of the
individual.
Man as a System
Closed System
 Self-sufficient, totally isolated
 It does not allow outside stimuli in any form to
penetrate its boundaries, nor does it allow
anything from within it to go beyond its
boundaries
 This system uses its reserves for energy. In doing
so, it eventually fails to function and disintegrates.
Open System
 One which exchanges matter, energy or
information with the environment surrounding it.
 It is directly affected by events or changes in the
systems.
 This type of system views the person as a living
behavioural system
Energy — Matter
Exchange of Man
 Man, as a unified whole interacts constantly with
his environment, while at the same time the
different subsystems within him continuously
interact with each other.
 The interrelatedness and interdependence of
man’s subsystem facilitate the energy-matter
exchange.
 An input of matter results in an output of matter
for man when they ingest food and waste products
are excreted from the body.
 However, an input of energy need not result in an
output of matter, and then the input be always
energy.
INPUT-OUTPUT RELATIONSHIP
Energy-Energy
(a quarrel at bedtime may result in sleepless night)
Energy-Matter
(Fear in anticipation of test results in frequent loose stools)
Matter-Matter
(inhalation of pathogenic microorganisms produces fever)
(ingestion of histamine-rich food produces hives)
- Family, community and society
Man as a Psycho-Social Being
Man according to Travelbee is a “unique,
irreplaceable individual, a one-time being in the
world.”
Man is so alike but yet totally unlike any person who has
ever lived or ever will live.”
“Man is imprisoned within himself by his limited nature
and enjoys freedom which other animals can never enjoy.”
“Man is a thinking being who is very capable of rational,
logical thinking most of the time but who becomes
irrational and illogical when provoked.”
“Man retains a certain amount of immaturity well within an
outer shell of maturity.”
“Man can never be completely able to understand another
human being.”
“Man as a social being is capable of relating with others.”
“What is wonderful with man is his capacity to cope with
stress stimuli.”

Man as a Spiritual Being

The unity of Man in Body, Mind and Spirit

Input
 Taken in by a system
ENERGY MATTER INFORMATIO Man as a complex organism has specila abilities to
N transcend the limits of his animal nature. This ability to
Scolding Food News overcome the physical and social needs through
Blow Microorganisms Health Teachings transcendence is descriptive of man’s spiritual nature.

Output Two components that assist man in the power of

 Passes from the organism into the environment transcendence are intellect and will.
ENERGY MATTER INFORMATIO
N Intellect
Fever Loose Stools Validating what  Allows man to look for the truth
Dyspnea Vomitus one has learned is  Gives him the ability to perceive his surroundings
correct through
feedback Will
 Express man’s own wishes, desire, or longing
Man as a Biological Being  Gives him the power of conscious and deliberate
Man's subordinate and super ordinate systems influence his action or self-control
behavior as an individual.

Man enlarges behavioral responses from a single family
unit to the supra system of society and how these different
systems and subsystems all
refer back to man as an individual.
Elements of Man’s biologic nature
Subordinate system
- Cells, tissues, organs and systems
Man as the Spiritual Being
 Man the spiritual being needs the essential
freedom of the human spirit
 Difficult when man is ill because illness deprives
the patient of his much needed freedom
 Man starts to question his situation, “What have I
done to deserve this?”

Super ordinate system

  It is the intellect that helps him find the truth of
his illness and accept the fact that it is not God’s
“punishment for his sins.”
 The will provides man the energy to overcome the
forces working against him. This can be seen in
miraculous recoveries which is attributed to strong
determination to live in spite of the odds against
them.

Man as a Spiritual Being

Belief in the Superior Force

Man, no matter what his religion is, believes that his life is
governed by a great power greater than him. Religions
differ in their beliefs as to the nature of this Power, Force
or Being.

Motivation to Overcome Hardships

NATURAL FORCE
 To suffer for those whom he loves and wishes to
protect from pain and suffering (ex. Love of
parents to children)

SUPERNATURAL FORCE
 One transcends pain and suffering to a higher
place in the hope of non-material reward

THE SPIRITUAL VIRTUES

1. FAITH
 Is the unquestioning belief in someone or
something or the complete trust and confidence in
a person or thing
2. HOPE
 While faith is the foundation that help rests, hope
nourishes faith. A vital factor in health care
setting. Its presence or absence often play a part in
the patients recovery.
3. CHARITY
 Love of man for his fellowmen. Allows man to
give up his own pleasures while serving another
without even thinking of the sacrifice it entails

“Man’s spiritual nature forges with his physical and

psychological nature to make him a being, differentfrom
the sum of his individual parts.”