Holistic care

Holistic care looks at the whole person as well as the illness they have.

Updated 12 October 2026 (1 minute read)

Summary

  • It covers a patient's emotional, social and spiritual needs alongside the physical ones.
  • The biopsychosocial model, set out by George Engel in 1977, is the idea behind it.
  • A GP who asks about housing, work and mood as well as symptoms is practising it.
  • Social prescribing puts it to work by linking patients to local activities and support.

Interview questions

  • What does holistic care mean?
  • A patient keeps returning with symptoms that tests cannot explain. What else would you want to know?
  • Why might loneliness be a medical problem?

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Our interview preparation has you answer questions like these out loud, with feedback on each answer.

More NHS hot topics, medical ethics case studies and medical school interview questions are in AlphaMED Resources, which we add to and update through the application cycle.