Essay
Health and Social Care
- Module
- Health Psychology
- Institution
- AQA
Assignment in Health Psychology Unit 26 health and social care level 3
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Unit 26: Health PsychologyPage 1
Introduction to Health Psychology
In this Assignment I will be discussing what Health Psychology is, what Health Psychologists do and how
Physical, Psychological, emotional and spiritual factors affect health and illness. As well as how Health
Psychologists study how patients handle illness, why some people don’t follow medical advice and the
most effective ways to control pain or change poor health habits.
Health Psychology includes the Physical, Emotional and Spiritual factors that affect Human Health. A
Holistic Approach proceeds by identifying underlying problems/illnesses of patients, by allowing both
patients and professionals involved in the patient’s multidisciplinary team, to take the time to listen, ask
questions and be fully aware of the whole situation, before diagnosis and treatment is carried out.
Once Health Psychologists are made aware of the patients underlying health problems, this will allow
them to diagnose and treat patients, ensuring they are monitored appropriately and regular checkups are
carried out to make sure the medication/treatment is working and suitable for their needs and
requirements, with regular evaluating and revaluating both patients and the treatment thus allowing for
the fine tuning of both medication and treatment in order to meet the patients needs precisely.
Health and Ill Health
Some say health is “the absence of disease”. However, The World Health Organisation (WHO) disagrees
state disease and illness are explained by biological terms.
Health is being completely physically and mentally healthy. This could include things like having no stress,
being happy, good diet, positive body image and self worth. Good Health is thinking positively rather than
negatively. Health is simply living without any medical conditions from mild, moderate, through to life
threatening or life limiting, free from viruses and diseases and without the need for any medication or
treatment and maintaining a nutritional diet and lifestyle and living life healthily by staying safe and
aware of surroundings. Maintaining good physical and mental health, preventing illness or accidents and
effectively dealing with minor ailments and long-term conditions are some things Patients can do to
maintain self-care. Not subjecting ones-self to extreme risks including dangerous hobbies and pastimes
and hoping that we stay safe from unforeseen events that could put us in harms way or are beyond our
control.
Painkillers, also known as analgesics, have many side effects like Liver or kidney disease, lowered
immunity, cardiovascular issues and impaired mental function, so patients may be deterred from
complying with treatment. Painkillers like Fentanyl for example, are extremely dangerous for some, as
Fentanyl toxicity can cause hallucinations and visual impairments, and may even cause death.
Goals of Health Psychology include: understanding behavioural and contextual factors for health and
illness, preventing illness, finding treatment to manage pain, investigating the affects of disease and also
improving doctor to patient communication.
In 1948 the average age of human lifespan was between 64-69 years old. However, the average age of
human lifespan nowadays reaches to an average of 81.2 years old. With people now living longer due to
more substantial, nutritional diets and better medication, the pressure on NHS has rapidly increased
possibly due to it being overrun and abused, especially the impacts caused by COVID have had a negative
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affect on health and living costs. Nurses especially, have suffered traumatic stresses which is now
resulting in a national shortage of staff. This is having a negative affect on patient care as patients are not
receiving the required support and attention with hospital waiting times and the worst backlog in NHS
history.
Medical Model
The Medical Model recognises and treats the Human Body as a complex mechanism and advocates the
treatment of symptoms through the use of medical interventions and procedures. The Medical Model
also states that “The medical model, which is more widely used by psychiatrists that psychologists, treats
mental disorders as physical diseases whereby medication is often used in treatment”-
www.verywellmind.com. The Medical Model encourages service users to hand over control of care to
health care experts and expect to be treated. However, this can result in service users becoming
dependent on care and treatment.
Bio-Psychosocial Model
The Bio-Psychosocial Model encourages service users to access facilities where Care Professionals can
provide care and support through treatment and communication by exploring the background of the
patients Biological, Psychological (thoughts, emotions and behaviours) and social (socio-economic, socio-
environmental and cultural) factors in order to effectively treat patients. Doctors place greater emphasis
on the patient looking after themselves. The Model also uses a Holistic Approach as it aims to treat the
service users and their illnesses.
Biological influences can affect health as many disorders have an inherited genetic vulnerability. Genetic
vulnerabilities are more likely to display negative thinking and cause depression, anxiety and stress,
which will can eventually lead to psychological damage/trauma, which could result in illnesses like
Schizophrenia, anorexia and other mental health disorders.
Comparison/Compliance and Non-Compliance
The Medical Model and the Bio-Psychosocial Model play a huge part in health and well-being. The
Medical Model focuses on treatment and eliminates symptoms whilst the Bio-Psychosocial Model
focuses on the perception of the patient’s symptoms and how they and their family respond to the
symptoms they are experiencing. ‘Bio-Psychosocial Model helps primary care doctors to understand
interactions among biological and psychosocial components of illnesses to improve the dyadic
relationship between clinicians and their patients and multidisciplinary approaches in patient care.’
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. Whereas, The Medical Model treats mental disorders as a physical illness
whereby medication is often used along side other treatment. Patients who drink, smoke, partake in
drugs and so forth, expect care professionals to treat them. They expect to be treated even though they
recognise that they are causing harm to their health by not stopping or preventing the consumption of
recognised dangerous substances.
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