Week 1

Question 1

Definition of health

Answer 1

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.

Question 2

Hippocrates humoural theory

Answer 2

body contains four different fluids (humours) yellow bile, black bile, blood & phlegm, which when balanced indicated good health and when imbalanced indicated poor health.

Question 3

Islamic Golden Age (750-1300)

Answer 3

a flourishing of science, mathematics, medicine and preservation of classical Greek philosophies.

First mental hospital in Baghdad in 792AD.

Question 4

Middle Ages

Answer 4

Little progress, rather a regression in medical advancement. Maintained humoural theory and returned to thinking that disease was cured through exorcism and supernatural measures.

Question 5

Renaissance concept of illness (15th-16th century)

Answer 5

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.

Question 6

Enlightenment and Scientific Revolution (17th-19th century)

Answer 6

Rapid change in medical and scientific knowledge that challenged existing religious and political structures.

Question 7

Wilhelm Wundt (1830-1920)

Answer 7

Father of psychology: campaigned to make psychology an independent discipline. Set up first lab in Leipzig in Germany.

Question 8

Dr Ignaz Semmelweis

Answer 8

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’.

Question 9

The biomedical model of medicine

Answer 9

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.

Question 10

Strength of the biomedical model

Answer 10

Removal of pathogen (with medicine or surgery) restores health. Compatible with treating infection, disease and reduction in mortality.

Question 11

Limitation of the biomedical model

Answer 11

Cannot account for our health status alone. Does not consider impact of social and psychological factors.

Question 12

Psychosomatic medicine

Answer 12

Patterns of personality are linked with specific illnesses as evidenced by certain personalities having a propensity for CHD.

Question 13

The biopsychosocial model

Answer 13

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.

Question 14

Biological factors

Answer 14

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

Question 15

Psychological factors

Answer 15

Personal aspects of the human mind and behaviour i.e. cognitive behavioural. It includes personal thoughts, beliefs, values, feelings and actions.

Question 16

Social/Environmental factors

Answer 16

All external influences on humans are considered including family, relationships, culture, situational events, heat, cold, noise etc.

Question 17

Strengths of the BPS model

Answer 17

It’s a holistic approach to health/illness, which views health as a positive condition and not simply the absence of disease

Question 18

Limitation of the BPS model

Answer 18

Impractical for clinicians to address all BPS factors and doing so may delay/confuse treatment options.

Question 19

Health psychology examines…

Answer 19

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

Question 20

Goals of health psychology are to

Answer 20

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

Question 21

Implications of increased life expectancy

Answer 21

more chronic illnesses requiring extended medical care

emphasis on early detection and prevention

focus on wellness years rather an increasing life expectancy

Question 22

The biopsychosocial model suggests that:

Answer 22

a person’s health is determined by the interaction of biological, psychological and social processes

Question 23

Health psychology is a branch of psychology that studies

Answer 23

the relation between psychological variables and health

Question 24

Hippocrates described four bodily humours thought to influence health and illness status. These were:

Answer 24

yellow bile, phlegm, blood and black bile

Question 25

The biopsychosocial model of health:

Answer 25

adds to the medical model

Question 26

Which of the following is NOT one of the main goals of health psychology?

Answer 26

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.