Week 1 Flashcards
Definition of health
a dynamic state of wellbeing characterised by physical, mental and social potential, which satisfies the demands of life commensurate with age, culture and personal responsibility.
Hippocrates humoural theory
body contains four different fluids (humours) yellow bile, black bile, blood & phlegm, which when balanced indicated good health and when imbalanced indicated poor health.
Islamic Golden Age (750-1300)
a flourishing of science, mathematics, medicine and preservation of classical Greek philosophies.
First mental hospital in Baghdad in 792AD.
Middle Ages
Little progress, rather a regression in medical advancement. Maintained humoural theory and returned to thinking that disease was cured through exorcism and supernatural measures.
Renaissance concept of illness (15th-16th century)
a period of new ideas and significant change. Rene Descartes was the first to propose that the mind and body could communicate (via the pineal gland). The body was regarded as a machine.
Enlightenment and Scientific Revolution (17th-19th century)
Rapid change in medical and scientific knowledge that challenged existing religious and political structures.
Wilhelm Wundt (1830-1920)
Father of psychology: campaigned to make psychology an independent discipline. Set up first lab in Leipzig in Germany.
Dr Ignaz Semmelweis
Introduced chlorinated lime washing at childbirth reducing mortality rate from 35% to 1%. Research was rejected and he died in an asylum. Referred to as the ‘saviour of mothers’.
The biomedical model of medicine
Traditional view of Western medicine.
Health = absence of disease.
Disease conceptualised as a biomedical process resulting from exposure to pathogens or genetic abnormality or injury.
Strength of the biomedical model
Removal of pathogen (with medicine or surgery) restores health. Compatible with treating infection, disease and reduction in mortality.
Limitation of the biomedical model
Cannot account for our health status alone. Does not consider impact of social and psychological factors.
Psychosomatic medicine
Patterns of personality are linked with specific illnesses as evidenced by certain personalities having a propensity for CHD.
The biopsychosocial model
Engel (1977) proposed that health comprises of biological, psychological and social aspects of health. Relies on both nature and nurture perspectives of health and illness.
Biological factors
All physical aspects of the person including:
genetic
physiological nervous system (CNS)
endocrine system (adrenal glands)
all other factors that can be physically determined i.e. age
Psychological factors
Personal aspects of the human mind and behaviour i.e. cognitive behavioural. It includes personal thoughts, beliefs, values, feelings and actions.
Social/Environmental factors
All external influences on humans are considered including family, relationships, culture, situational events, heat, cold, noise etc.
Strengths of the BPS model
It’s a holistic approach to health/illness, which views health as a positive condition and not simply the absence of disease
Limitation of the BPS model
Impractical for clinicians to address all BPS factors and doing so may delay/confuse treatment options.
Health psychology examines…
the psychological and social factors that lead to the enhancement of health, the prevention and treatment of illness, the evaluation and modification of health policies that influence healthcare
Goals of health psychology are to
develop our understanding of the biopsychosocial model
promotion and maintenance of good health
improve healthcare systems and policies
prevention and treatment of illness
identify vulnerability/risk/protective factors connected to illness
promote increased medical acceptance of psychology in healthcare
Implications of increased life expectancy
more chronic illnesses requiring extended medical care
emphasis on early detection and prevention
focus on wellness years rather an increasing life expectancy
The biopsychosocial model suggests that:
a person’s health is determined by the interaction of biological, psychological and social processes
Health psychology is a branch of psychology that studies
the relation between psychological variables and health
Hippocrates described four bodily humours thought to influence health and illness status. These were:
yellow bile, phlegm, blood and black bile
The biopsychosocial model of health:
adds to the medical model
Which of the following is NOT one of the main goals of health psychology?
a. promotion and maintenance of health
b. prevention and treatment of illness
c. improving healthcare systems and policy
d. the creation of an illness-free population
d.
