The biopsychosocial model (abbreviated "BPS") is a general model or approach stating that biological, psychological (which entails thoughts, emotions, and behaviors), and social (socio-economical, socio-environmental, and cultural) factors, all play a significant role in human functioning in the context of disease or illness. It posits that, health is best understood in terms of a combination of biological, psychological, and social factors rather than purely in biological terms. This is in contrast to the biomedical model of medicine that suggests every disease process can be explained in terms of an underlying deviation from normal function such as a virus, gene or developmental abnormality, or injury. The concept is used in fields such as medicine, nursing, psychiatry, family therapy, chiropractic, osteopathy, clinical social work, and clinical psychology, health psychology, occupational therapy, physiotherapy and sociology. The biopsychosocial paradigm is also a technical term for the popular concept of the "mind–body connection", which addresses more philosophical arguments between the biopsychosocial and biomedical models, rather than their empirical exploration and clinical application.