Download 01-Introducing Health Psychology

Introducing Health Psychology
What people die from is
changing
• 1900 - Acute Infectious diseases
– Pneumonia
– Tuberculosis (TB)
– Diarrhea and enteritis
• 2005 - 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