Summary
Summary Lectures notes for Health and Medical Psychology
- Course
- Institution
All lectures notes + additional comments made for the specialisation course Health and Medical Psychology
[Show more]
Seller
Follow
gaiaantico
Reviews received
Content preview
Health & Medical Psychology LecturesLecture 1: Explaining Health Behaviour
Two parts:
1) The Essence of Health and Medical Psychology
- What is health and medical psychology?
- What is healthy living? What is prevention?
- Why encourage a healthy lifestyle?
2) How can we explain/understand health behaviour?
Where do Health and Medical Psychologists Work?
1) Health care:
● Primary health care (adults, children)
● Private practice
● Organisational health/burn-out prevention
● Secondary health care:
- Mental health organisations
- Pain clinics and rehabilitation centres
● Medical psychology department hospital:
- Pain management
- Oncology and haematology
- Endocrinology
- Cardiology etc.
2) Primary prevention, Policy and Training:
● Municipal health organisations, Public Health Service
● Companies
● Voedingscentrum, Trimbos, Rutgers, etc.
● National health foundations and societies: Hersenstichting, Hartstichting, KWF,
Astma Fonds, etc.
3) Research and Policy
● Universities and research institutes (TNO, Nivel, etc.)
● Local, regional or federal government, Ministries, CBS or CPB, etc.
● Developmental aid organisations
Health and Medical Psychology Topics
- Body and mind interaction
- Coping with chronic diseases
, - Capacity and empowerment
- Stress and disease
- eHealth and self management
- Prevention and health promotion
Lay Perceptions of Health (Blaxter, 1990)
“What does health mean to you?”
● Health as not ill: no symptoms, no visits to doctor
● Health as reserve/resources: strong family, recover quickly
● Health as behaviour: look after myself
● Health as physical fitness and vitality: energetic
● Health as psychological well-being: in harmony, balance, proud, enjoyment,
motivated
● Health as function: to do what I want / have to do
→ Everyone's definition is different, something that's important for you might not be
important for someone else
→ Need to ask person you are working with what is important for them (highly personal)
→ Health has many dimensions (multidimensional)
WHO Definition of Health (1948)
“Health is a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the
absence of disease or infirmity”
● The definition has not been amended since 1948 (still being used), although criticism
has been forwarded…
- “Complete”: who ever feels completely well? Almost no one, but many people
still consider themselves healthy even though definition would imply they are
not (problematic)
Understanding Health and Illness
● Biomedical model
→ Argues that you can only become ill, if there is some type of bodily process
affected
- (Underlying pathology, neural and/or biochemical activity), for example:
- Exposure to contagious “agents”
- Insufficient immune response
● What else predicts health and illness?
- Health behaviours (physical activity, nutrition, sleep, etc.)
- Stress/emotions
- Social relations (support, conflict) can function as a buffer (bad social
relations can cause stress, and therefore reduce health)
,Biopsychosocial Model
● Body and mind in interaction determine health and illness
● Consequences of interplay of biological (genes, pathogens), psychological
(emotions, cognition and behaviour) and social (norms, social cultural background)
factors
● The different systems influence each other continuously
Prevention
Prevention is the main effort of health and medical psychologists…
● Primary prevention: prevention of problem / onset of disease / illness / casualty,
interventions that promote a healthy lifestyle
- Target group = healthy people (don't yet have any health complaints)
● Secondary prevention: tracing illness in an early phase, for early treatment or for
prevention of more serious complaints, includes screening and early treatment
- Target group = (healthy) people with an increased risk for disease
(predisposition for disease)
, ● Tertiary prevention: when illness has already happened, prevention of
complications and worsening of symptoms through optimal care (revalidation and
including self-regulation interventions), involves coping with chronic illness and
having a high quality of life
- Target group = ill people
Does Our Behaviour Influence Our Health?
Cohort studies
● Framingham Heart Study (after WWII)
- 500 people between 30 and 62
- Every 2-6 years participants asked to return and give lots of information about
medical history (physical exams, lab tests)
- Learned that high blood pressure, high cholesterol, unhealthy eating patterns,
smoking, physical inactivity, and unhealthy weight all had a strong relation
with cardiac health
→ to prevent heart problems need to focus on these behaviours
● British Doctor Study (1951)
- 40,000 doctors were followed
- Showed that smoking is strongly related to cancer, cardiovascular disease
and chronic lung disease
Alameda 7 – seven health factors for longevity
Which factors predict health?
1. Exercising
2. Drinking less than five drinks in one sitting
3. Sleeping 7-8 hours a night
4. Not smoking
5. Maintaining desirable weight for height
6. Avoid snacks
7. Eating breakfast
Types of health behaviors
● Matarazzo (1984) makes a distinction between:
- Behavioral pathogens (health risk behaviors): smoking, alcohol and drug
abuse, sharing needles, multiple sex partners, unsafe sex, drink driving, no
ear protection, etc.
- Behavioural immunogens (health protective behaviours): physical activity,
healthy nutrition (e.g., low in fat, sugar and salt, vegetables and fruit), sun
protection, bicycle helmet, vaccinations, medication, etc.
Why encourage a healthy lifestyle?
The benefits of buying summaries with Stuvia:
Guaranteed quality through customer reviews
Stuvia customers have reviewed more than 700,000 summaries. This how you know that you are buying the best documents.
Quick and easy check-out
You can quickly pay through credit card or Stuvia-credit for the summaries. There is no membership needed.
Focus on what matters
Your fellow students write the study notes themselves, which is why the documents are always reliable and up-to-date. This ensures you quickly get to the core!
Frequently asked questions
What do I get when I buy this document?
You get a PDF, available immediately after your purchase. The purchased document is accessible anytime, anywhere and indefinitely through your profile.
Satisfaction guarantee: how does it work?
Our satisfaction guarantee ensures that you always find a study document that suits you well. You fill out a form, and our customer service team takes care of the rest.
Who am I buying these notes from?
Stuvia is a marketplace, so you are not buying this document from us, but from seller gaiaantico. Stuvia facilitates payment to the seller.
Will I be stuck with a subscription?
No, you only buy these notes for $6.68. You're not tied to anything after your purchase.
Can Stuvia be trusted?
4.6 stars on Google & Trustpilot (+1000 reviews)
79835 documents were sold in the last 30 days
Founded in 2010, the go-to place to buy study notes for 14 years now