Social vs Clinical Model

This lesson contrasts the social model with clinical model philosophy because sometimes the best way to understanding something is to understand what it is not. Plus, a clear delineation of the two will help prevent non-clinical programs from crossing legal and ethical boundaries and help clinical programs understand what it would take to add a social model program to their continuum of care.

Before the 1980s and 90s social model programs rapidly grew in many areas of the United States, but then shifting in funding policies placed financial pressure on providers to evolve their programs from the social to the medical model. To document the shift, Dr. Lee Kaskutas and fellow researchers developed the Social Model Philosophy Scale (SMPS), which include 33 questions across 6 domains:

1. Physical environment
2. Staff role
3. Authority base
4. Recovery orientation
5. Governance
6. Community orientation