Health Psychology (3)

1. Health Psychology (3) Christine L. Whitley

2. After studying Chapter 1, students should • Be able to articulate the definition of health psychology • Be able to trace (in general terms) the evolution of the field of health psychology from the days of the ancient Greeks • Understand the strengths and weaknesses of different research methods in health psychology • Be familiar with general medical terminology • Be able to identify many of the different positions that health psychologists fill and the roles that they play • Be familiar with the general training trajectory for a health psychologist • Be able to describe the difference between a Western and non-Western approach to medicine • Be able to differentiate between health psychology, psychosomatic medicine, and behavioral medicine • Understand the ways in which changing patterns of disease and illness, along with the emergence of managed care, have affected our approach to health

3. Be able to articulate the definition of health psychology • Illness: cognitive and emotional phenomena such as schizophrenia, anxiety, or depression. • Psychologist: add the relation to the body • Health psychology: physical health and well-being • “a complete state of physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease of infirmity”(WHO, 1948) Biopsychosocial model

5. Biological The Immune System • The Immune system is a group of cells and organs that work together to fight infections in our bodies. Some of these organs are the thymus, spleen and lymphocytes. • The Immune System protects our body from pathogens, disease-causing agents, such as bacteria.   • There are two parts of the Immune System called nonspecific defenses and specific defenses.  • Nonspecific defenses, also known as the innate immune system, guard infections.  These defenses can find foreign tissues, but do not recognize a particular invader.  • Specific defenses, also known as the adaptive immune system, can track down pathogens that passed through the nonspecific defenses.  Nervous system, brain, hormone, chemicals, genetics Resources:http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/1996/illpres/introduction.html

6. Evolutionary Survival Found on:http://www.paniccure.com/Approaches/CBT/Intro_Understandg_P.htm

7. Psychodynamic Sexual, instincts

8. Behavior Promoting healthy behaviors and Preventing unhealthy behaviors • Identifying unhealthy behaviors • Understanding the (immediate) consequences of unhealthy behaviors • Designing programs to change the unhealthy behavior • Identifying the healthy behavior • Understanding the (immediate) rewards from the healthy behaviors • Designing programs that would combine both promotion of healthy behaviors and prevention of unhealthy behaviors. Learning

9. Response Appraisal Threat (“Yikes! This is beyond me!”) Panic, freeze up Stressful event (tough math test) Challenge (“I’ve got to apply all I know”) Aroused, focused Stress Appraisal Cognitive information

10. Humanistic Needs… • Hunger: • If we don’t eat, we (individuals) die • Sex: • If we don’t reproduce, we (species) die • Belonging: • If we don’t get along, we (group) kill each other and… die • Achievement: • If we don’t adjust to change we (humanity) die growth

11. Health Psychology (p.3) • This field involves research and practice dealing with the role of psychology in health and illness. • Health psychology has as its goal a deeper understanding of psychological processes as an aid to improving physical health outcomes for individuals. • Health psychologists subscribe to a biopsychosocial model, which is a philosophical point of view that posits the importance and interrelatedness of biological, psychological, and social/societal factors in determining health.

12. Healthy habits Environmental factors Different responses to diseases and illness Changing a person’s health behavior Coping styles

13. UnHealthy habits Environmental factors Different responses to diseases and illness Changing a person’s health behavior Coping styles

14. Be able to trace (in general terms) the evolution of the field of health psychology from the days of the ancient Greeks

15. Be able to trace (in general terms) the evolution of the field of health psychology from the days of the ancient Greeks

16. Be able to trace (in general terms) the evolution of the field of health psychology from the days of the ancient Greeks

17. Be able to trace (in general terms) the evolution of the field of health psychology from the days of the ancient Greeks

18. Be able to trace (in general terms) the evolution of the field of health psychology from the days of the ancient Greeks

19. Be able to trace (in general terms) the evolution of the field of health psychology from the days of the ancient Greeks

20. Be able to trace (in general terms) the evolution of the field of health psychology from the days of the ancient Greeks

21. Be able to trace (in general terms) the evolution of the field of health psychology from the days of the ancient Greeks

22. Be able to trace (in general terms) the evolution of the field of health psychology from the days of the ancient Greeks

23. Western medicine Western medicine is based on scientific observation and experimentation. We no longer live in the mystical spirit world of the ancients but that does not mean that beliefs no longer play a part in healing. Many people still visit faith healers or follow alternative therapies that claim to tap into invisible forces of nature.

24. Understand the strengths and weaknesses of different research methods in health psychology • Complex and sensitive nature (mind/matter) • Challenging subject • Definitive answers cannot be reached • Aiming at a better understanding • Sound design and methods are important for avoiding pitfalls and erroneous conclusion • True experimental, quasi experimental and correlational (p.10)

25. Read this cartoon... Do you agree with the little boy's explanation? What are the facts, the cause and the consequence? Correlation does not imply causation! Are the facts related to each other? Or do they just occur simultaneously? Or which one would be the cause of the second one? What if there was a third factor?

26. Understand the strengths and weaknesses of different research methods in health psychology • Retrospective data collection: subjects are asked to report on something in the past and to recall what happened and how they experiencedit (state-dependant memory) • Prospective research: the predictor measure will be assessed well in advance of the outcome • Longitudinal: conducted over time. Framingham Heart Study (p.15) • Cross-sectional: measuring one variable in a large population

27. Be familiar with general medical terminology • P.20 • Read the prefixes and focus on the one that are not clear and logical to you!

28. Be able to identify many of the different positions that health psychologists fill and the roles that they play • Independent clinicians • Consultants to health care teams, researchers • Training: psychology, biology, chemistry, sociology, statistics, research methods, ethics • PhD = postdoctoral training

29. Be able to describe the difference between a Western and non-Western approach to medicine

30. Mind –Body Connection • Animism: the belief that every movement is caused by animating spirit • Monism: the idea that the mind and body are one entity • Dualism: the idea that mind and body are separate and independent entities

31. Be able to differentiate between health psychology, psychosomatic medicine, and behavioral medicine Health psychology: deeper understanding of psychological processes as an aid to improving physical health outcomes for individuals Psychosomatic medicine: proposed that certain factors caused specific diseases; now it emphasizes that psychological factor contribute to a range of diseases Behavioral medicine applied behavioral theory to health problems, usually focusing on changing specific health behaviors

32. Understand the ways in which changing patterns of disease and illness, along with the emergence of managed care, have affected our approach to health • More emphasis on prevention • Financial constraints limit the kind of treatment available • Not only physical health but also satisfaction and well-being • Biopsychosocial model

33. Life events Personal appraisal Challenge Threat Personality type Easy going, Nondepressed, Optimistic Hostile, Depressed, Pessimistic Personal habits Nonsmoking, Regular exercise, Good nutrition Smoking, Sedentary, Poor nutrition Level of social support Close, enduring Lacking Tendency toward Health Illness Promoting Health

34. BASIC PRINCIPLES IN PREVENTION PREVENTION Two Definitions: 1) Prevention is a proactive process which focuses on capacity-building for individuals, families, institutions, and organizations-- including specifically identified high-risk individuals and/or groups within the population. 2) Prevention is an active process of creating conditions and personal attributes that promote the well-being of people. Prevention strategies may operate in the host, (e.g., individual, group), the agent, (e.g., alcohol, cocaine), or the environment, (e.g., university campus, city).

35. Three Levels of Prevention • Primary prevention: Efforts to preclude the onset of substance abuse. • Targeted Prevention: Efforts targeting individuals of groups which are characterized by identifiable risk factors for substance abuse. • Early Intervention: Efforts targeting individuals or groups which are characterized by problematic use of alcohol or other drugs in order to reduce the likelihood that patterned abuse or dependence will develop.

36. Some basic premises regarding prevention have been established: • Prevention strategies must be comprehensively structured to reduce individual and environmental risk factors and to increase resiliency factors in high-risk populations. • Community involvement is a necessary component of an effective prevention strategy; a shared relationship among all parties is essential in the promotion of alcohol, tobacco, and other drug prevention efforts. • Prevention must be intertwined with the general health care and social services delivery systems and it must provide for a full continuum of services. • Prevention approaches and messages that are tailored to differing populations groups are most effective.

37. Prevention Strategies • Information Dissemination: This strategy provides for a.) awareness and knowledge of the nature and extent of unhealthy behavior b.) their effects on individuals, families, and communities c.) information to increase perceptions of risk associated unhealthy behavior d.) knowledge and awareness of prevention policies, programs, and e.) set and reinforce norms • Prevention Education: This strategy aims to affect critical life and social skills, including decision making, refusal skills, critical analysis (for example, of media messages), and systemic and judgmental abilities. • Alternatives: This strategy provides for the participation of targeted populations in activities that would encourage healthy choices. Constructive and healthy activities offset the attractive and/or otherwise meet the needs usually filled by, AOD use. • Problem Identification and Referral: This strategy calls for identification, education, and counseling for those who have indulged in age-inappropriate behaviors. Activities under this strategy would include screening for tendencies toward unhealthy choices. • Community-Based Process: This strategy aims to enhance the ability of the community to provide prevention and treatment services more effectively. Activities include organizing, planning, enhancing efficiency and effectiveness of services implementation, interagency collaboration, coalition building, and networking. Building healthy communities encourage healthy lifestyle choices. • Environmental Approach: This strategy sets up or changes written and unwritten community standards, codes, and attitudes. Being aware of your community and environment and working proactively is an essential part of prevention efforts.

38. Web Resources: • http://cwabacon.pearsoned.com/bookbind/pubbooks/dimatteo_ab/ • http://www.schoolscience.co.uk/content/4/biology/abpi/history/timeline.html • http://www.mo-media.com/plab/medterms/medterms_prefixes.htm