1) Introduction, ageing and stereotypes

Question 1

What is health psychology?

Answer 1

Contribution of psychology to the:
-promotion and maintenance of health
-prevention and treatment of illness
-identification of psychological factors
-influencing health and illness
-analysis and improvement of the health care
system and health policy formation

Question 2

What is the biomedical model?

Answer 2

– Illness understood in terms of biological and physiological processes
–Treatment involves physical intervention (drugs, surgery)
-No focus on psychological or social factors

Question 3

Describe the 3 factors that have an effect on health and illness according to Engel’s biopsychosocial model.

Answer 3

• Bio encompassing physiology, genetics and pathogens
• Psycho encompassing cognition, emotion and behaviour
• Social encompassing class, employment and social support

Question 4

Why is important to consider human diversity in the healthcare setting?

Answer 4

People:

• have different health problems
• have different lifestyles (that impact on health)
• want different types of health services
• hold different health beliefs
• engage in different health behaviours
• have different health needs

Question 5

What are stereotypes?

Answer 5

Generalisations we make about specific social

groups, and members of those groups

Question 6

Why is stereotyping beneficial cognitively?

Answer 6

• Schemata - we organise knowledge into groups that share a characteristic to make it easier
• Reduces processing power as you can predict and prepare due to understanding the type of people around you

Question 7

Suggests some positives and negatives of stereotyping.

Answer 7

Positives - quick, easy, social identification within a group, positive feelings towards members of the same group
Negatives - overlooks diversity, hurtful, prejudice/discrimination

Question 8

Describe how a stereotype can turn into a behaviour?

Answer 8

Organisation into schemata, pre-judgment forming a prejudice. This prejudice forms the evaluative component and attitude which can turn into a discrimination (behaviour) against a group.

Question 9

Suggest two studies which suggest there is an impact to our unconscious stereotyping.

Answer 9

-The Police Officer’s dilemma – ethnicity of suspect
and decision to shoot (Wittenbrink 2004)
-Patient ethnicity and clinician communication
(Cooper et al 2012)

Question 10

Why are people working in the healthcare profession prone to stereotyping?

Answer 10

• Under time pressure
• Fatigued
• Suffering information overload

Question 11

Describe the relationship between ageing and intellect.

Answer 11

There is a decline in IQ with age, accelerating after 70. However, there is varying decline in different areas, some areas are vert stable. Processing speed affected the most, learnt skills and general knowledge retained - reduced ability to problem solve.

N.B. memory in general declines, but, more to do with disease (dementia etc.)

Question 12

What three life stages did Erikson outline? What are the associated conflicts of each life stage?

Answer 12

• Young adult life - intimacy vs. isolation
• Mid-adult life - generation vs. stagnation
• Old-age - integrity vs. despair

Question 13

Which two models deal with social adjustment and ageing? What do they describe?

Answer 13

• Disengagement model - old people pull away from society to prepare for death
• Activity model - successful ageing requires social involvement and maximal engagement in life

Question 14

Describe some of the issues faced by the elderly in the context of family life.

Answer 14

• Family role adjustment - no kids, possibly grandkids
• Changing family contact
• Importance of friendships with other people of a similar age

Question 15

What is the attitude to work and retirement in the elderly?

Answer 15

• The idea of unemployment vs. rest

- Latent rewards of paid work