Introducing Health Psychology

What people die from is changing Acute Infectious diseases –Pneumonia –Tuberculosis (TB) –Diarrhea and enteritis Chronic diseases –Cardiovascular diseases Heart disease Stroke –Cancer

Young people (1 - 44) most likely to die from: Accidents (unintentional injuries) Violent deaths –Murder (Homicide) –Suicide

Ethnicity and disease Diseases and life span vary by ethnicity. E.g. Japanese live longer that European Americans European Americans live longer that African Americans

Income and Disease Poverty & low education = health problems & lower life expectancy Unrelated to ethnicity

Education and disease Inverse relation between education and disease More education = less disease

Are living longer? 1900 = 47.3 years 2007 = 77 years 30% increase

Why has the life expectancy increased? Main factor = lower infant mortality

Will health care cost you more? Costs have increased faster than inflation Why are medical costs increasing? Aging population Sophisticated medical technology Complex surgical procedures

What is health? Biomedical model (Western medicine) Disease is exclusively a biological process Pathogen (disease-causing organism) = disease No pathogen = health Most useful for infectious diseases

What is health? Newer (more inclusive model) Biopsychosocial model Includes: Biological, Psychological, and Sociological (social) influences. Viewpoint of health psychologists Eg. Psychosomatic illness

Advantages of the Biopsychosocial model Better for current model of lifestyle diseases Adds Psychological and social aspects Views health as a positive condition Not just the absence of illness

Advantages of the Biopsychosocial model Sees many diseases resulting from a combination of: Genetics Physiology Social support Personal control Stress Compliance Personality Poverty Ethnicity Cultural beliefs

What is the focus of health psychology? Health enhancement Disease prevention Rehabilitation Interdisciplinary team member