Health Psychology Introduction

Definitions Exercise What is Psychology? What is Social Psychology? What is Health Psychology? Working individually find definitions for the above. Take note of your sources. Then share your findings with the rest of your group. In your groups identify key words / key themes from the various definitions and use these to write a definition and a few key points about each term – no more than would fit on one powerpoint slide per question! Approx. 75 words. Reference your sources.

What is Psychology? Psychology is the science of the mind. The human mind is extremely complex and is the source of all thought and behaviour. Therefore: Psychology is the scientific study of the human mind and human behaviour.  Psychology is a multi-layered branch of learning and includes many sub-fields of study, for example, human development, sports, health, clinical, social behaviour and cognitive (intellectual / thinking) processes. http://www.simplypsychology.org/whatispsychology.html

What is Social Psychology? Social psychology is about understanding individual behaviour in a social context. Social psychology studies human behaviour as influenced by factors such as the influence of other people and the social context in which behaviour occurs. Social psychology is to do with the way feelings, thoughts, beliefs, intentions and goals are constructed and how these psychological factors influence our interactions with others. http://www.simplypsychology.org/social-psychology.html

What is Health Psychology? Health psychology focuses on how biology, psychology, behaviour and social factors influence health and illness.  http://psychology.about.com/od/branchesofpsycholog1/p/health-psychology.htm Health psychologists are interested in how our behaviour and attitudes affect our health, with the aim of encouraging and supporting health in the population, and, on understanding how people react to, cope with, and recover from, illness. http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/humanbody/mind/articles/psychology/psychology_7.shtml Health psychology is an interdisciplinary field concerned with the application of psychological knowledge and techniques to health, illness and health care. Marks, D. Murray, M. Evans, B. Willig, C. (2000) Health Psychology: Theory, Research and Practice, London: Sage Publications

What is Health? Think of someone you know who is very healthy. Define who you are thinking of, e.g. friend/relative etc. Note how old they are. What makes you describe them as healthy? What is it like when you feel healthy? Discuss the characteristics you used to define health with your group and write a group list of characteristics that define health – choose someone to feed back to the class.

Health is… Not being ill – no symptoms or visits to the doctor. Health as a resource - come from a strong family so do not get ill and if I do I recover quickly. Health as physical fitness / vitality – ‘feeling fit’, ‘feeling full of energy’ Health as psychosocial wellbeing – defined in terms of mental state, feeling in harmony, feeling proud, enjoying being with others. Health as a function – being able to perform duties and not being handicapped by ill health or physical limitation. Health as behaviour – healthy because ‘look after self’ , ‘take regular exercise’, do not indulge/overindulge in behaviours detrimental to health. Morrison, V. & Bennet, P. (2000) An Introduction to Health Psychology, London: Sage Publications

Health is… World Health Organisation definition.. ‘ state of complete physical, social and spiritual well being, not simply the absence of illness’. This is an influential definition because health is not defined purely in relation to physical health. However, how many of us think we are ‘healthy’ based on that definition? Does the definition provide an unrealistic goal?

What are the social factors that affect health? Economic factors – poverty/affluence, living and working conditions, environmental factors, government policy. Cultural factors – individual beliefs, individual lifestyles, influence of family and community. Sounds a bit like sociological factors! – So what makes health psychology unique? Stroebe, W. (2011) Social Psychology and Health, Maidenhead: Open University Press

What are the social factors that affect health? It involves the study of the human mind in regards to the individual or small group rather than society as a whole.  Its recognition that healthy or unhealthy lifestyles are often determined by our health attitudes and health beliefs. Its emphasis on behaviour and behavioural change as preventive measures. Stroebe, W. (2011) Social Psychology and Health, Maidenhead: Open University Press

Determinants of Health

Social Determinants of Health Dahlgren G & Whitehead M (1991) Policies and strategies to promote social equity in health. Institute for Future Studies, Stockholm (Mimeo)

References http://www.simplypsychology.org/whatispsychology.html http://psychology.about.com/od/branchesofpsycholog1/p/health-psychology.htm http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/humanbody/mind/articles/psychology/psychology _7.shtml Morrison, V. & Bennet, P. (2000) An Introduction to Health Psychology, London: Sage Publications Stroebe, W. (2011) Social Psychology and Health, Maidenhead: Open University Press Social Determinants of Health Dahlgren G & Whitehead M (1991) Policies and strategies to promote social equity in health. Institute for Future Studies, Stockholm (Mimeo)

Re: References The references used in these powerpoint slides took approx. 2.5 hours of focused research and critical reading. Reading the material and putting information into powerpoint slides can be an effective way to take notes and gather references. Slides could be put into sections for different aspects of assignments.

Review What is health psychology? How is psychology different to sociology? What is the WHO definition of health? Why is this an influential definition? What factors affect and can therefore be classed as ‘determinants of health’?

Preparation for next Week Research the following – make sure that you record your sources: Origins of psychology as a discipline – brief overview Biomedical model of illness Biopsychosocial model of illness Make notes or annotate printouts/photocopies and then write key points about each model.