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A merry heart does good like a medicine. Proverbs 17:22

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 
Health Psychology

• What is it?
• What is health?
• Why health and psychology?
• Are the two fields related?
• What does health psychology study ?
• Why do I need to know about health psychology?
 WHO’s defintion

 In 1948 who defined health as “a complete state of

physical, mental, and social well being and not
merely the absence of disease or infirmity”
 Positive definition

 Recognizes various dimensions of health

 Includes political and social considerations

 Health psychology
 Division 38 - Health Psychology seeks to advance
contributions of psychology to the understanding of health
and illness through basic and clinical research, education,
and service activities and encourages the integration of
biomedical information about health and illness with
current psychological knowledge
 Health psychologists are interested in how behaviour and
attitudes affect our health, with the aim of promoting and
maintaining health in the population.But what does it
mean to be healthy? In 1946, the World Health
Organization decreed that health is "a state of complete
physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the
absence of disease or infirmity." But how many people
could count themselves healthy on that definition? This
version of what it means to be healthy probably creates
an unrealistic goal for the vast majority of people.
 Health psychology

 Health psychology is devoted to understanding

psychological influences on how people stay
healthy, why they become ill, and how they
respond when they do get ill. Health psychologists
both study such issues and promote interventions
to help people stay well or get over illness.
 Focus of health psychology

 Health promotion and maintenance

 Prevention and treatment of illness

 Etiology and correlates of health, illness and

dysfunction
 Improving health care system and the formulation
of health policy
 History of health psychology
 Evil spirits

 Ancient Greeks- Monism,

Plato,Hippocrates
 AD 400 – C. 1300 (middle ages) -evil
spirits, religious explanations
 1300 onwards- Descartes, new
discoveries, development of the bio
medical model- dualistic view
 Factors that led to the
development of health psychology

 The nature of illness has changed

 The biomedical model is unable to fully account for

health
 Health care costs have risen dramatically

 The development of new technology

 The meaning of health has changed

 Development of health
psychology
 Task force created by APA in 1973
 health psychology created in 1978 division 38 of
APA
 Journal of health psychology 1982
 Scope of Health Psychology
 contribute to understanding of health and illness through basic
and clinical research

 promote education and services in the psychology of health and

disease/illness

 inform the medical and related professions, and general public

of psychological research relevant to health and disease/illness

 contribute to the development of an efficient and user friendly

the HC system

 contribute to health policy development

 Health psychology and other
disicliplines

 Psychosomatic medicine- developed in the

1930’s .studies how emotional, social and
psychological factors influence the development
and progression of illness. E.g. how anxiety
,depression and stress might lead to ulcers,
migraines, arthritis and asthma
 Health psychology and other
disicliplines

 Medical psychology- focuses on teaching physicians

how to interact with patients in a tactful and
constructive way in order to best diagnose and
manage their illness. E.g. how to handle patients
who are reluctant to seek or follow medical care.
 Health Psychology and other
disicliplines

 Behavioural medicine- this is an interdisciplinary

field that developed in the 1970’s and it focuses on
the integration of behavioural and biomedical
sciences. Specifically, behavioural medicine focuses
on developing and applying behavioural techniques
to the treatment, management and rehabilitation
of patients
 Health psychology and other
disicliplines

 Behavioural health-a sub discipline of behavioural

medicine , emphasis enhancing health and
preventing disease in currently healthy people .
Researchers in this field focus on general strategies
of health promotion
 Health psychology and other
disciplines

 Medical sociology- examines how social

relationships influence cultural and societal
reactions to illness ,and the organization of health
care services’. E.g. researchers in this field might
examine the effects of social stress on health and
illness ,and the negative consequences of labeling
someone a “patient”
 Health psychology and other
disicliplines

 Medical anthropology- examines the differences in

how health and illness are viewed by people in
different cultures. Cultures, in fact ,vary
tremendously in how they define health, how they
view disease, and, in turn how they treat illness
.Even within a single culture there are variations.
E.g. certain religious groups believe illnesses are
caused by mental and spiritual processes and rely
on prayer and other non medical interventions
 Health psychology and other
disicliplines
 Public Health Psychology (PHP)- is population
oriented. A major aim of PHP is to investigate potential
causal links between psychosocial factors and health
at the population level. PH psychologists present
research results to educators, policy makers, and
health care providers in order to promote better public
health. PHP is allied to other public health disciplines
including epidemiology, nutrition, genetics and
biostatistics. Some PHP interventions are targeted
toward at-risk population groups (e.g., undereducated,
single pregnant women who smoke) and not the
population as a whole (e.g., all pregnant women).
 Health psychology and other
disicliplines
 Community Health Psychology (CoHP)--
investigates community factors that
contribute to the health and well-being of
individuals who live in communities. CoHP
also develops community-level
interventions that are designed to combat
disease and promote physical and mental
health. The community often serves as the
level of analysis, and is frequently sought
as a partner in health-related
interventions.
 Health psychology and other
disicliplines
 Organizational Health Psychology (OHP)- is a
relatively new discipline allied with health psychology. The ancestry of
OHP includes health psychology, industrial/organizational psychology,
and occupational health.[2] OHP has own doctoral programs, journals,
and professional organizations. The field is concerned with identifying
psychosocial characteristics of workplaces that give rise to health-related
problems in people who work. These problems can involve physical
health (e.g., cardiovascular disease[3]) or mental health (e.g.,
depression[4]). Examples of psychosocial characteristics of workplaces
that OHP has investigated include amount of decision latitude[5] a
worker can exercise and the supportiveness of supervisors.[6] OHP is
also concerned with the development and implementation of
interventions that can prevent or ameliorate work-related health
problems.[7] In addition, OHP research has important implications for
the economic success of organizations.[8] Other research areas of
concern to OHP include workplace incivility[9] and violence,[10] work-
home carryover,[11] unemployment[12] and downsizing,[13] and
workplace safety[14] and accident prevention.[15] Two important OHP
journals are the Journal of Occupational Health Psychology and Work &
Stress. Organizations closely associated with OHP include the Society for
Occupational Health Psychology and the European Academy of
Occupational Health Psychology.
 Health psychology and other
disicliplines
 Critical Health Psychology (CrHP)- is concerned
with the distribution of power and the impact
of power differentials on health experience and
behavior, health care systems, and health
policy. CrHP prioritizes social justice and the
universal right to health for people of all races,
genders, ages, and socioeconomic positions. A
major concern is health inequalities. The CrH
psychologist is an agent of change, not simply
an analyst or cataloger. A leading organization
in this area is the International Society of
Critical Health Psychology.