HSS Block B Practice Test

Understanding a patient’s personal, cultural, and social perspective on illness comes from the explanatory model approach. This framework asks patients to express what they think is causing the illness, what they expect to happen, and what counts as evidence of health or disease. The two questions “how is your health?” and “how do you know?” are tools to elicit the patient’s own criteria for health and illness, revealing beliefs about symptoms, causes, and the meaning of their condition. By capturing these beliefs, clinicians can align explanations, plan, and recommendations with what the patient values and trusts, which helps communication and adherence. The other concepts focus more on the clinician’s or society’s viewpoint rather than the patient’s own explanations. The medical model centers on disease from the clinician’s lens; the cultural competence model emphasizes the clinician’s ability to interact across cultures; and the social determinants framework looks at structural factors affecting health.