Health psychology is a study of a biopsychosocial model of health which takes into considerations of how psychological, behavioural and social factors contribute to the health and health care (Ogden 2012). According to the British Psychological Society (2011), health and health care system can be promoted and improved by understanding and applying the psychological knowledge, research and interventions. This essay will be focusing on few main health psychology objectives in related to the spectrum of health care effectiveness and address the importance of a good understanding of health psychology concepts will facilitate treatments in clinical practice.
The first objective is to identify the importance of psychological factors and experiences
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These are the beliefs regarding the threat of illness and preventative action. They propose HBM helps health professionals to explain and predict people’s health behaviour and adherence to medical advice through the understanding of the contextual factors that influence health. Carpenter (2010) suggests that health behaviours can be interfered by targeting the HBM variables in communication. According to his meta-analysis of HBM variables effectiveness, although the model specifies that all four variables can predict certain behaviour, he found that benefits and barriers are the strongest predictors of behaviour. This finding is supported by the latest study conducted by Akhagba (2017), proposed that perceived barriers in HBM prevent women in Poland from undertaking cervical cancer screening. The social barriers that the participants are facing include migration, cultural beliefs, social relationship and social embarrassment. A further study by Hidarnia et al. (2015) investigated the effect of education programme based on HBM on preventing osteoporosis in women. They found out that the scales of beliefs about perceived susceptibility, severity and benefits can be increased after the education interventions based on HBM in the …show more content…
For example, using HBM in health education on a topic by targeting perception. Providing a clear, accurate and latest information on the prevalence and effects of certain health problems; and highlighting the seriousness of the illness or dangers of nonadherence to medical plans, can influence patients’ beliefs regarding the threat of illness (perceived susceptibility and severity). Therefore, the application of HBM is essential in clinical practice to consider different patients and devise strategies to improve their
Michael is a 56 year old male who lives alone in a small tin shed in the middle of the bush in central Queensland. He has no children, no partner and lives by himself. During the day he spends his time sleeping on the couch or doing chores around the property. If he isn’t asleep, he requires a stimuli to remain occupied. When he was a young boy, he was a very calm child with a great sense of humour. His physical health was perfect with good energy levels. When he was sexually abused at the age of 8, by his grandfather, these characteristics started to change. From the age of 16 he was having regular breakdowns in his thinking and emotional responses. Michael was constantly feeling irritable and having trouble sleeping with frequent nightmares. As the years went by his attitude was extremely negative which led on to him being withdrawn from his family and friends. During his last year of high school, he started to regularly use marijuana. He would experience countless amounts of paranoia episodes where he would hear voices and thought he was being spied on. At the age of 45 he was fin...
This section discusses health psychology and behavioral medicine, making positive life changes, resources for effective life change, controlling stress, behaving, and your good life. Health psychology emphasizes psychology’s role in establishing and maintaining health and preventing and treating illness. It reflects the belief that lifestyle choices, behaviors, and psychological characteristics can play important roles in health. The mind is responsible for much of what happens in the body, it is not the only factor, the body may influence the mind as well. Making positive life changes include health behaviors- practices that have an impact on physical well being. The stages of change model describes the process by which individuals give up bad habits and adopt healthier lifestyles. The model has five stages: precontemplation, contemplation, preparation/ determination, action/ willpower, and
The essay will describe the biopsychosocial model of health and its development including who developed the model, then it will look at the models separately which are the biomedical, psychological and sociological models. This essay will outline the effects that diabetes has on people in different ways in relation with the biopsychosocial model of health.
The biopsychosocial model is a general model that states that biological, psychological, and social factors all play major roles in everyday life and health. The field of health psychology seeks to study how biology, behavior, and social situation influence overall health. Both are key to understanding how health affects behavior.
The Health Belief Model is a framework that is used for understanding service user’s health behaviours. The Health Belief Model is based on believing that a service user will seek health care related action if they believe that they are at risk of developing a certain condition and also if they believe that they can successfully and confidently take action to avoid getting the condition. A conceptual framework that describes a person's health behavior as an expression of health beliefs. The model was designed to predict a person's health behavior, including the use of health services, and to justify intervention to alter maladaptive health behavior. www.medical-dictionary.com (accessed 1/11/2016).
In the past few decades, clinical treatment has moved on from biomedical approach to the biopsychosocial approach. Scientists now believe that health of an individual is not merely due to physiological conditions but may also depend on psychological and socio-cultural perspectives(Engel, 1977). The term health psychology was developed by the American Psychological Association to describe health and wellness issues that arise from psychological problems. Health psychology stems from Systems theory, which says that human events such as injury and illness exist within several interconnected systems, such as our peer relationships, childhood experiences, personality and other factors (Schwartz, 1982).
The Health Belief Model (HBM) comes from the psychological and behavioral theorists. The premise is that there are two parts involved in health related behavior. “People are more inclined to engage in a health behavior when they think doing so can reduce a threat that is likely and would have severe consequences if it occurred.” (Brewer & Rimer, 2008, p. 152). The patient believes that a specific health action will prevent or cure the illness. How the individual responds depends on the perceived benefits and barriers of that health behavior.
Firstly, as a GP, it is crucial to explore the biopsychosocial model of health. One must realise that biological, psychological and social factors all contribute to a person’s overall health. The social dimension cannot be ignored in Anne’s case. According to the World Health Organisation, the social determinants of health are ‘the conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work and age.’ (World Health Organisation. 2013) From the information provided, one could suggest that various social factors have contributed to Anne’s obesity. Anne grew up in a deprived area of the inner city. Growing up in a deprived area does not directly cause obesity, however, social determinants are known as causes of the causes of ill health. (WMA. 2011) Obesity can be caused by consuming too many calories, leading a sedentary lifestyle and not sleeping enough. (Christian Nordqvist. 2011) These, in turn, could be referred to as consequences of living in the inner city. Studies have shown that ‘inner city parents have high levels of anxiety about neighbourhood safety. While these concerns may not entirely explain the discrepancy in activity levels between inner city and suburban children, a safe environment is crucial to increasing opportunities for physical activity.’ (Weir, L.A., Etelson, D. & Brand, D.A. 2006) Similarly, it is possible that Anne’s socio-economic status has influenced her smoking since a person below the poverty threshold is more likely than somebody at or above the threshold to be both a current smoker and not to have quit. (Flint, A.J. & Novotny, T.E. 1997)
Our personal beliefs influence our health behavior either positively or negatively. Health beliefs have been linked to uptake and have been measured using a number of models. For example, Bish et al. (2000) used the health belief model (HBM) and the theory of planned behavior (TPB) to predict uptake of a routine cervical smear test.
The health belief model (HBM) is a psychosocial model that was developed during the 1950’s by social psychologists of the U.S public health services, and this model was used to explain why people failed to participate in disease prevention and detection programs. The theory is one of the most health behavior theories, which is used to explain behavior change and maintenances, but often times used to predict behavior outcome (Glanze, Rimer, & Lewis, 2002).
It is generally accepted within healthcare that to understand mental health we must adopt the biopsychosocial model. This model assumes that an interdependent relationship exists between biological, psychological and social factors which are involved in all aspects of mental health (Toates, 2010, p. 14). To be true to the model research must be holistic and not investigate the factors in isolation.
In society today, there is an extensive range of definitions of health and wellbeing which can be seen as both positive and negative. A Holistic view can also be identified and defined. These definitions of health have changed over time and will carry on changing within the future. According to where a family lives or their social class everyone will have different meanings and views of health and wellbeing. This may be due to what one person perceives as being healthy as another person may not. Channel 4 learning (no date) describes that a positive view of health can be seen as when a person is more likely to achieve and sustain physical fitness from exercising and are mentally stable. Therefor a negative view can be described when a person is free from illness, disease, mental distress or anything which may be a symptom of not having good health. The holistic view of health sees the person as a whole instead of just directing at one area and therefore combines physical, social, intellectual and emotional factors together. Consequently, if a person has emotional difficulties such as how they interact with other people or how they may feel but are physically fit and free from illness does not mean that they are healthy overall as one factor has difficulties. It is also vital to consider the two main theoretical concepts known as the medical and social model of health. Polity books (no date) describes that the medical model views health in terms of disease, diagnosis and then treatment and very much views a body to be separate from psychological processes. Causes of ill-health within the body are seen to require expert interference from a doctor to provide treatment to prevent or kill of an illness within the body. The Social model...
Health psychology has been an appealing subject to me because it is relatable on many levels. Of the topics we have covered in class I think unit 3 have left the deepest impression. Stress is something everyone can relate to but probably understood on the minimum. Stress is a common experience for university students and without an exception I fall victim to it every time an exam or presentation comes up. Learning about this topic, what stress is, what it does to your body, how it affects your behavior has lead me to reflect upon past experiences in a way that I can learn to better cope with the effects of stress.
Health literacy plays an important role in individuals’ decision-making. The scope of health literacy does not limit to traditional medical perspective. In fact, it has extended from the basic understanding of diseases and medications to all aspects that affect health. As one of the key social determinants, health literacy has huge impact on health and well-being. Its influence is associated with disease prevention, healthy lifestyle promotion, policy making, etc. This essay will first discuss the concept of health literacy and the consequences that link to it, and then give a strategy—designing user-centred messages in education, to improve health literacy,
While summarizing the multi-factorial model, many aspects included there can possibly determine different outcomes of people’s health in relation illness. The model shows how biological, environmental, behavioral, personality and social-cultural factors are imperative in relation to some of the leading causes of stress related illnesses. Most importantly, (Hoover, 2000) notes that genetic and lifestyle factors are among a few that simple answers to why some people can maintain their health, while others become ill.