Disability is not just a medical issue and the biopsychosocial model helps us understand why.
Disability is not simply something a person “has” or something that needs to be fixed. It is a human experience shaped by the interaction between someone’s body or health condition and the world around them – the attitudes they encounter, the structures they navigate and the support available to them.
In workplaces today where diversity, inclusion and belonging are central to effective, sustainable culture and directly linked to profitability and market share our understanding of disability needs to evolve. One of the most helpful frameworks for this is the Biopsychosocial Model of disability. It offers a more complete and compassionate way of understanding the lived experience of disability, and crucially, a way of building workplaces that meet real human needs.
To appreciate why this model matters, it’s useful to first explore how disability has been understood and how these perspectives still influence policies, attitudes, and decisions today.
So, what do we mean by “Disability”?
Disability can be understood as the interaction between a person’s body or mind and the environment around them. The World Health Organisation defines disability as an umbrella term that encompasses:
- Impairments (body functions or structure)
- Activity limitations (difficulty performing tasks)
- Participation restrictions (difficulty taking part in everyday activities)
Source: World Health Organisation — Disability and Health https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/disability-and-health
This definition is important because it implies that disability is not just about the person it is equally about context. Two people with the same medical diagnosis can have very different experiences depending on:
- Accessibility of the workplace
- Availability of tools and accommodations
- Level of social support
- Cultural attitudes and expectations
- Personal resilience, stress, or confidence
- Self-awareness and ownership
- Economic resources
This leads us to models of disability; the ways society interprets and responds to disability.
What are social models of disability?
Social models of disability shift the focus away from the person’s condition and towards the environment and society. The most widely recognised is the Social Model of Disability, developed in the UK by disability activists in the 1970s.
The core idea is:
People are disabled more by barriers in society than by their impairments.
For example:
- A person who uses a wheelchair is not “disabled by paralysis” but by buildings without lifts.
- A colleague with dyslexia is not “disabled by dyslexia” but by text-heavy, inflexible communication formats.
- A colleague with chronic pain is not “disabled by their condition” but by workplace rhythms that assume constant energy and presence.
More on the Social Model: Scope UK — https://www.scope.org.uk/about-us/social-model-of-disability/
However, the Social Model on its own does not always account for the very real physical or psychological challenges many disabled people face. Which is why the conversation evolved.
The Biological (Medical) Model of Disability
The biological (or medical) model views disability as a problem located in the individual that needs treatment or cure. The focus is on diagnosis, symptoms, and deficits.
This model is rightly used in a healthcare setting, where medical support is important.
However, in workplaces it can lead to:
- Assumptions around needs and abilities
- Overemphasis on “fixing” the person instead of adapting systems
- Pathologising or infantilising disabled colleagues
- Underestimating the role of culture, environment, and stress
The medical model is not wrong it’s just incomplete. It explains part of the picture, not the full experience.
Enter the Biopsychosocial Model of Disability
The Biopsychosocial Model brings together three dimensions:
Biological — Physical health, genetics, neurological structure
Psychological — Emotions, stress, coping skills, self-esteem
Social — Community, policies, environment, cultural attitudes
This model recognises that disability is not static, it shifts depending on context, support, and relationships.
An Example of the Biopsychosocial Model in practice;
Let’s take chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS/ME), though the same thinking applies to many long-term conditions.
Biological: Fatigue levels vary daily
Psychological: Fear of being judged as “lazy”
Social: Work is structured as if everyone has the same energy pattern
If the workplace offers:
- Flexible working hours
- Output-focused performance measures
- Awareness training for managers
- Regular wellbeing check-ins
Then the experience of disability changes. Functioning improves not because the medical condition has changed, but because the context changed.
Why this model matters in today’s workplaces
Modern organisations are moving from compliance to compassionate inclusion.
The Biopsychosocial Model supports:
- Better reasoning for flexible working
- More humane performance management
- Better return-to-work and phased support planning
- Culture change that treats people as whole human beings
Four considerations to apply this model in your workplace
- Redesign roles where possible, not just people.
- Move away from one-size-fits-all job descriptions.
- Include flexibility of hours, communication, location, and task allocation.
- Train managers in supportive conversations, not diagnosis.
Managers do not need medical expertise they need emotional literacy, curiosity, and confidence to discuss adjustments without stigma.
Three actions to make accessibility visible and normalised.
- Publish accommodation options openly (don’t wait for people to ask).
- Make reasonable adjustments a standard, not a special request.
- Model supportive language in leadership communications.
If this perspective resonates and you’re looking to build a workplace where every person can thrive, get in touch. We’d be happy to support you.
Further reading & resources:
– WHO: Disability & Health —
https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/disability-and-health
– Scope UK: Social Model of Disability —
https://www.scope.org.uk/about-us/social-model-of-disability/