Psychological Perspectives for Health and Social Care

Psychological Perspectives for Health and Social Care

Those working in the caring professions spend most, if not all, of their working lives interacting with other people. A key part of their job is to promote health and well-being. Most people are familiar with the following definition of health: 'a state of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity' (WHO 1946). If this is seen as an important goal, those working in health and social care need the knowledge and skills to help people work towards achieving it. There are many ways in which psychological theory and research can contribute to improvements in health and social care including:

appreciate how people's understandings and needs vary, so that we can try to ensure that the individualized care we provide is both appropriate and optimal;

gain a better understanding of communication processes so that we can identify ways of improving the therapeutic relationship and work more effectively in interprofessional and inter-agency contexts;

identify factors that affect how people cope with such situations as acute and chronic illness, pain and loss, and the demands of everyday life, so that we can help them, and ourselves, to cope better and reduce the risks of stress-related illness;

inform us about factors that influence people's lifestyles and what motivates certain health-related behaviours such as smoking, dietary change and exercise;

apply evidence-based interventions to enhance health and well-being, and help people to change or modify their lifestyles.

Western medicine emphasizes the importance of evidence-based health care. Whereas much of twentieth-century health psychology was characterized by models and theories, the twenty-first century demands researchbased evidence to support these. An important recent contribution to the psychology of health has emerged through a field of study called psychoneuroimmunology (pronounced psycho-neuro-immun(e)ology). Studies now show that our emotions playa key role in the link between the world we inhabit and our immune responses . This is conceptualized within the 'biopsychosocial' model of health which emphasizes the complex interaction between biological factors and physiological systems (life sciences), psychological processes (thoughts, feelings, behaviours) and the social and cultural context in which people live and children grow up (see sociology and social policy). This field of study provides strong evidence to support the need for holistic care.

The main purpose of this book is to enable practitioners to apply evidencebased psychology to enhance their therapeutic work, work more effectively with members of the multi professional team to promote the health and well-being of patients (or clients) and their caregivers, and preserve their own health and well-being.

There are five main schools of thought in psychology in which academic psychologists normally work and on which health psychology is based. They are:

Cognitive science (including cognitive psychology): the study of cognition (mental processes) including memory, perception, information processing, psychophysiology, psychoneuroimmunology and social cognition.

Behavioural psychology (based on behaviourism): the study of learning by observing the direct effects of external environmental stimuli on behaviour and behaviour ...