Health Psychology

1. SIGNIFICANCE OF HEALTH PSYCHOLOGY IN
THE FIELD OF HEALTHCARE
PRESENTED BY : DR DEEPTI DEWAN
UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF : DR. ANUSUYA. M.AKAREDDY
DEPARTMENT OF CASE TAKING & REPERTORISATION
GOVERNMENT HOMOEOPATHIC COLLEGE & HOSPITAL
BENGALURU, KARNATAKA

2. What is Psychology?
According, to the American Psychological
Association Psychology is the study of mind
and behavior,. It includes the study of
conscious and unconscious phenomena, as
well as feeling and thought.

3. Branches of psychology
1.Clinical psychology
2.Cognitive psychology
3.Developmental psychology
4.Evolutionary psychology
5.Forensic psychology
6.Health psychology
7.Neuropsychology
8.Occupational psychology
9.Social psychology

4. The perception of Health also has become changed as health is not just
being away from diseases but it is overall positive well being (Brannon
& Feist, 2010).
These concepts led researchers to further focus on healthy behaviours
and lifestyle of people, generally. Psychology as a science of behaviour
has much to contribute to the field of health psychology. It has become
a fast growing area within clinical psychology.
.
Health & Psychology
What is Health?

5. Health psychology deals with the psychological and behavioural
processes contributing to overall individual’s well being and health.
Health psychology also called as behavioral medicine. Behavioural
medicine is interdisciplinary field including both medicine and
psychology. It deals with the subject of health and illness by merging
all knowledge of biological, behavioural, social and psychological
sciences.
Health psychology is basically applying the psychological theory to
health related practices.
What is Health Psychology?

6. Definition
Health psychology can be defined as the aggregate of the specific educational,
scientific and professional contributions of the discipline of psychology to the
promotion and maintenance of health, the prevention and treatment of illness,
and the identification of etiologic and diagnostic correlates of health, illness and
related dysfunction.
Health psychology attempts to shift the narrative away from a simple linear
model of health and looks at the combination of factors, e.g., biological,
psychological and sociological. According to the concepts of health psychology,
the whole person should be treated, because it is not only the physical changes
that occur due to ill health.

7. Health Psychology refers to the understanding of psychological influences on how
people stay healthy, how they become ill and how they respond when they get ill.
Health Psychology is the study of psychological & behavioral processes in health, illness
and healthcare, concerned with the understanding how psychological, behavioral and
cultural factors contribute to physical health and illness.
Psychological factors can affect health directly also behavioural factors can also affect a
person’s health. For example, certain behaviours such as smoking, excessive alcohol
consumption can harm; and similarly, certain behaviours such as exercise, diet low in
saturated fat can enhance health.
Health psychology also maintains that the mind and body interact. It sees psychological
factors as not only possible consequences of illness (after all, being ill can be
depressing), but as contributing to all the stages of health, from full healthiness to
illness.

8.  Focus on health promotion and health maintenance,
 Prevention and treatment of illness,
 Focus on the etiology and correlates off health, illness, and
dysfunction,
 Analyze and attempt to improve the health care system and
the formulation of health policy,
 Other interventions- reducing stress, enhancing quality of
life, bolstering the immune system functioning, increasing
adherence to medical prescriptions, reducing disability and
increasing personal mastery, coping skills & personal
management.
Objectives of Health Psychology

9.  Manage chronic & life threatening disease such as rheumatoid,
arthritis, diabetes and cancer.
 Treat psychophysical disorder such as hypertension, headache,
insomnia, etc.
 Provide adjunctive or complementary care for patients with
refractory medical symptoms such as pain and psychological
comorbidity such as depression, stress and for patients who must
cope with surgery and other stressful medical procedure.
Scope of Health Psychology & its Interventions in
Health Care

10. Relationships
How lifestyle, behavior,
personality, social support and
stress are linked with health

11. Stress and illness
Stress a psychological phenomenon results from an interaction with an
environmental challenges or stressors. The Physiological effects of stress on the
body involve a complex chain (Brannon & Feist, 2010).
Stress causes the activation of sympathetic nervous system- high heart rate, high
blood pressure, increased muscle tension etc.
Relationship between Illness and stress is reciprocal as stress can cause illness
or disease and also stress sometimes occurs due to illness itself. For example a
person is stressful because he/she has a cancer.

12. Health can also be affected by behaviors and personality factors for example
particular behavior like smoking, overeating, alcohol consumption and substance
abuse are major contribution to various diseases.
Cognitive behaviors may influence our choices to adapt healthy or unhealthy
behaviors. Protection motivation theory (PMT) ( by Dr. R.W. Rogers in 1975) states
that choices are made on the basis of two functions; threat appraisal and coping
appraisal.
The psychophysiological reactivity model suggests that hostile individuals are more
vulnerable to coronary heart disease as they experience larger increase in heart rate,
blood pressure and stress related hormone. So it is concluded that health and illness
can be greatly affected by personality traits and behaviors.
Personality, behavior and health

13. Social support is not something that you have a lot of friends but it means you have
some true close relations and those relations are actually helpful in promoting healthy
behaviors and overall wellbeing. (Miller, Chen & Cole, 2009; Stanton, Revenson, & Tennen, 2007).
Support may act as a buffer against worse health outcomes. (Trull, & Prinstein, 2012).
So, it is concluded that illness can be caused by so many factors altogether. However
every illness has its own basis and etiology.
There are so many diseases that health psychology has to address. Obesity and smoking
have come under the observation of psychologist. By using different methods diseases
can be understood and can be treated.
Social support and Health

14. Health Psychology and Models
❏ From American Psychologist Association (APA): health psychologist participate in health care in a
various of settings including primary care programs, inpatient medical units and specialized
health care programs (pain management, rehabilitation, women’s health, oncology, smoking
cessation, headache management)
❏ Models in which health psychology use in primary care settings:
❏ Colocation
❏ Coordinated Care
❏ Enhanced Referral
❏ Collaborative Care
❏ Integrated Care
❏ Health psychologist work within public health care systems, managed care, or in private settings
Ref : Thielke, S., Thompson, A., and Stuart, R. (2011). Health psychology in primary care: recent research and
future directions. Psychology Research and Behavior Management:4, 59-64.

15. A skilled homeopath knows this relationship between the mind and the body. The
homoeopathic understanding of health is intimately connected to its understanding
of the mind in general.
Homoeopathy views the spiritual-bodily organism as a highly potentised essential
being with spirit, mind, vital force and body. This synergy of natural forces composes
a whole human being, which is more than the sum of its parts.
Hahnemann integrated the ancient Hippocratic teachings on temperaments, physics,
diathetic constitutions and miasms into homoeopathy and brought them up to date for his
time.
Homoeopathic view

16. Man consists in what he thinks and what he loves and there is nothing else in man. If
these grand parts of man, i.e., the will and understanding be separated it means
insanity, disorder and death. All medicines operate upon the will and understanding
first affecting man in his ability to think or to will, and ultimately upon the tissues, the
function and sensations.
In the study of Aurum we find affections are most disturbed by that drug. If we have
material ideas of the means of the cure, we must feel that if we could remove the
organ we would cure the patient.
The organs are not the man, the man is prior to the organs. The real sick man is prior
to the sick body and we must conclude that the sick man be somewhat in that portion
which is not left behind. The man wills and understands, the cadaver does not will
and does not understand.