Health psychology Flashcards
How does WHO define health?
The state of complete physical, social and spiritual wellbeing, not simply absence of illness
What is health psychology?
An academic discipline that examines causes and processes underpinning health and illness, promotion of health, and prevention of illness
It is also a profession - work to initiate change on individual and social levels to facilitate health and wellbeing; still also contribute to research
Some individuals operate as both academic and applied
What is the biopsychosocial model of health?
Addresses processes linking perceptions and beliefs to biological processes and behaviour
Social processes involved in health care delivery e.g. effects of social and economic positions in society and how an individual interacts with others
BIO - physical health, disability, genetic vulnerability, drugs, temperament
PSYCHO - Self-esteem, temperament, coping and social skills, family relationships and trauma
SOCIAL - family relationships and trauma, drug use, peers, school
What are health-related behaviour patterns?
Behaviour patterns and lifestyle factors are key to health and longevity, making behaviour CHANGE a major focus for health psychologists, especially where such behaviour are maladaptive
Patterns include, for example, lifestyle factors which commonly contribute to morbidity and morality
What are the key determinants which need to be understood before a behaviour can begin to be changed?
Beliefs e.g. someone may not believe smoking is actually damaging
Attitudes e.g. many enjoy smoking
Intentions
Before any intervention we need to examine these factors and why people don’t take action to change harmful behaviours in the best interest of improving their health
What is the Information-motivation-behavioural skills model?
Model incorporating these three factors as determinants of behaviour and behaviour change
Pre-intervention questions based on this model could be:
1) Does someone have correct and enough information? If not, what information do they need?
2) If they have enough info, are they motivated to use the intervention? If not, what aspects of motivation are they lacking?
3) If they are motivated, don’t they have the skills to translate that into action?
Motivation is emphasised as important in this model - once an individual has this, it becomes far easier to work with them
Motivation ideally needs to be intrinsic
What does the socio-ecological model of behaviour change suggest?
Interventions are required at several levels, beyond simply psychologists, in order for them to be successful:
Individual (knowledge, attitudes, skills)
Interpersonal (families and other social networks, social influences, social norms)
Organisational (social institutions)
Community (relationships between organisations)
National legislation and public policy - e.g. increasing price on alcohol/cigarettes
What is the Integrated Model of Determinants of health behaviour?
Combines several models into one - all previous models have emphasised key cognitions influencing behaviour change, including intentions, self-efficacy, and outcome expectations
This model has 2 levels and 8 variables which determine behaviour (5:3):
Self-discrepancy - do they believe in their own abilities?
Advantages/disadvantages of changing their behaviour
Social pressures
Self-efficacy - can they achieve the change?
Emotional reaction - emotional challenges involved in changing a behaviour
Environmental constraints - nothing should be in the way of behaviour change e.g. environment should encourage healthy eating
Intention - need to want to change
Skills - e.g. not everyone knows what “healthy eating” is
All these areas need to be examined and addressed before we can start changing a behaviour
What do applied health psychologists working as practitioners do?
Promote health and wellbeing/prevent illness - promote healthier lifestyles and encourage people to make changes to benefit their health
Identify determinants of physical, mental and social wellbeing and behaviours which may damage health
Help and support people to deal better with psychological and emotional aspects of illness
Work towards improving healthcare e.g. advising healthcare professionals on best ways to communicate with patients
Explore patient behaviour to identify appropriate psychological interventions to support them
Develop interventions to address attitudes/beliefs and empower patients to develop sense of control over their health issues, promoting adherence to medical advice
