HLTHPSYC 122 Health Psychology Overview

  • Define health psychology & roles of health psychologists 

  • Discuss the Health Belief Model and its key concepts 

  • Discuss the Theory of Planned Behaviour and its key components 

  • Apply the two theories & concepts to understanding of barriers to, and facilitators of, health promotion 

Models of health

Biomedical model

  • western

  • exclusively biological - genes cause illness

  • useful in medicine

    • find biological causes of disease

    • hygiene processes

  • health not merely genes

  • biology, environment, psychological states

Biopsychosocial model

  • bio, socio, psycho processes

  • model creating health psych field

  • health not merely biological e.g. pathogenic factors

    • many other influences

  • how people cope when ill, social world around

  • how to promote positive health behaviours

Biopsychosocial factors

  • interact with each other with direct and indirect influences

  • impact on health behaviours

    • stress, emotions, social support, societal norms, doctor-patient relationships

    • e.g. supported by GP, easy to go and communicate - lower stress, lower stress physiological response = direct response

      • less stressed, influence doctor to make correct diagnosis, adhere to treatment plans

  • interact to influence health

    • some more susceptible alchohol and sugar intake due to genes

    • social behavior for sugar and alchohol intake

  • physical health impact psych

    • lower mood when in sick and pain, fatigued, grumpy

    • chronic health conditions - stress levels

    • emotional response have physical impacts - depression, low mood = lower energy and motivation so less likely to take meds, exercise, positive health advice

What is health psychology?

  • application of psych principles

    • psychosocial process in health

    • predict and understand copying behaviours and health for effective interventions

      • manage chronic conditions

    • treat psychological consequences of illness

  • enhance:

    • treatment

    • protective and risk factors

    • effectiveness of healthcare systems

Breadth of health psychology

Understand, explain, predict

  • psychological impacts on health

  • positive health behaviours - exercise, healthy eating, sleep hygiene, screening, vaccines

  • negative behaviours - drinking

  • notice symptoms, coping, illness behaviour

Develop interventions

  • medicine adherence - start taking meds and maintain taking

  • stress levels

  • emotional impacts of illness

  • placebo and nocebo effects - beliefs and expectations impact medicine outcomes

  • manage pain

  • end of life care

The role of health psychologists

  • health promotion

  • improve health

  • academic research

Health behaviour models

  • why do people engage in behaviours

Theoretical models

  • beliefs and attitudes, motivations, social environments

  • developed to predict behaviour

  • tie factors for targeted interventions

  • telling what is good or bad does not lead to meaningful change - consider factors

Examples

  • health belief model

    • logical, simple, behaviour change

    • perceived susceptibility, severity, benefits, barriers

    • perceived = our perceptions of benefits and barrier with actions determining behaviour

      • opinion of change getting conditioned - how likely to get disease?

      • severity - how serious if you get it? mild or painful

      • benefits - how effective advised actions would be e.g. calcium intake will promote bone health, how helpful and effective?

      • barriers - costs of actions e.g. don’t like exercise, halts action

    • effected by modifying factors - S.E. status, ethnicity

    • SS = perception of threat, high, engage in behaviour higher than if low (little motivation) - threat

      • increase education - severity

      • increase fear appealed - susceptibility

    • BB = reduction, minimise barriers

      • key to actions trigger behaviour e.g. campaign, advice, aware of bodily sensations increase readiness to take action

  • self efficacy - persists with behaviour in face of challenge

    • can take a change at level of competence important in initiating and maintaining behaviour change

    • diagnosis did not increase perceived risk for all women - not a cue to action for all

      • gap for education

    • high self efficacy + high education

      • efficacy increased by education, observational learning

      • increase self efficacy increased better nutritional habits

  • theory of planned behaviour

  • consider several factors for effective interventions

Theoretical models

  • how high risk to get

  • how bad is threat

    • perceived threat

    • alongside perceived benefit and barriers - what can we do about it

      • impact health behaviour

      • affected by self efficacy + cues to action

Critique of the health belief model

  • static - thought boxes linear

  • beliefs are happening all at once, not sequentially = assumed human beings are rational decision makers

  • oversimplify role of threat

    • high fear arousal provide denial

    • just because something is harmful, doesn’t have same weight for others

  • limited account for social influence on behaviour

    • not work well w/psychosocial model

  • not account for emotions

Theory of planned behaviour

incorporated health belief model critiques

  • attitude toward behaviour (benefits and barriers)

  • subjective norms (environment say about behaviour)

  • perceived behavioural control (belief of self)

    • intention

      • health behaviours

Critique

  • doesn’t account for emotions \

  • intention does not always lead to behaviour