Introduction to Health Psychology Flashcards
What does the root word of health mean and what does it suggest?
Wholeness - suggests a broad view of health includes both mental and physical aspects
What must be considered when defining health?
The word health can have very different meanings depending on the individual, history, culture or social class
What were the core beliefs about health in the:
- Stone Age
- Ancient Greece
- Middle Ages
- Scientific Revolution
Stone Age: Disease attributed to evil spirits
Ancient Greece: Balance between 4 humours (bodily fluids)
Middle Ages: Illness seen as punishment from God
Scientific Revolution: Illness understood by studying cellular & physiological processes
What is the biomedical model of health and illness?
- Views symptoms as having an underlying pathology
- Deals with objective facts
- Does not account for subjective differences in the way people respond to the same disease
What is the biopsychosocial model of health and illness?
- Current approach in health psychology
- Mind is crucial in understanding health & illness
- Includes biological, psychological and social explanations of health & illness experience
How have the leading causes of death change in the last 100 years?
1900s - infectious diseases, due to lack of immunisation & sanitation
2000s: cancer, respiratory disease, injury/poisoning, due to lifestyle choices
How have views of health changed from the 18th century to the 20th century?
18th century: Health considered to be under individual control
20th century: Health linked to ‘fitness to work’, belief that Western medicine cures all
What were the top 3 causes of Indigenous deaths from 2001-2005?
Circulatory disease, injuries, cancer
What did Bauman (1961) find health to be defined as?
- Feeling: General sense of well-being
- Symptom Orientation: Absence of symptoms of disease
- Performance: Able to do things a physically fit person is able to do
What factor did Bauman (1961) find influences subjective views of health and the definition of health?
Current health status and other personal and social factors, such as age
What did the Health and Lifestyle Survey (1990) find were the categories of health?
Health as not ill Health as a reserve Health as a behaviour Health as physical fitness & vitality Health as psychosocial well-being Health as function
What is the definition of health given by the WHO?
State of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and…not merely the absence of disease or infirmity
What is not explicitly addressed in the WHO definition of health?
- Socio-economic and cultural influence on health
- Illness & health decisions
- Role of the psyche, which plays a major role in the experience of health & illness
What are 4 common cross-cultural perspectives of health?
- Holistic: Social, biological, spiritual, interpersonal & health all integrated
- Supernatural & spiritual: Faith, God, hexes, evil eye
- Collectivist: Emphasise group needs
- Individualistic: Emphasise uniqueness of members
The developmental process is a function of the interaction between what 3 factors?
Learning: Relatively permanent change in knowledge, skill or ability
Experience: What we do, see, hear, feel and think
Maturation: Though, behaviour or physical growth due to genetic development/ageing
