Psychology at Stormont 24 th September 2013

Health Psychologists … Work with people who need to manage physical health and illness issues, including:  Changing diet  Increasing exercise  Increasing uptake of immunisation  Quitting smoking  Increasing incidence and length of breastfeeding  Increasing uptake of screening  Pain management  Coping with chronic illness  Managing stress  Improving medication adherence

AN EXAMPLE: MEDICATION ADHERENCE

Cost of Non-adherence Up to 60% of people with long term illness do not take their medication as prescribed In UK, costs of hospital admissions due to medication non-adherence is up to £196 million per year Breast Cancer Campaign - up to £30m could be saved each year

Health Psychology Works Psychological interventions: increase adherence to blood pressure medication, whereas patient education alone is largely unsuccessful. improve blood sugar control among adults with Type 2 Diabetes are 3 times more effective than educational interventions in improving adherence among young people with chronic illness