If you are a student of medicine, nursing, health, and social care, then this revised edition is an invaluable learning resource for you.
Introduction to Health Psychology, fifth edition, is a must-read, widely praised textbook that provides the learning resources you need from theory and research to real-world examples, helping you develop a better understanding and critical thinking on the issues explored.
This revision provides a comprehensive guide on essential topics surrounding health, retaining its popular original structure of three multi-chaptered sections: ‘Being and Staying Healthy’, ‘Becoming Ill’, and ‘Being Ill’. It also includes the useful final section, ‘From Theory to Practice’, which studies the need for theory-driven practice applications, making the most of the evidence available to support their study.
The edition offers you an insightful overview on a range of topics on health behaviour, from health-risk to health-protective habits, before exploring applications and health care intervention practices. It also discusses biological and psychobiological models and theories and the impact of stress on health, illness, and its progression, with extensive references on healthy diet and exercise.
The text also considers the role of key epidemiological updates and global health issues, cultural influences on health and health behaviour, and issues about health differentials, as seen in the illness experience.
Each chapter opens with a current real-world example and places the topic into context by introducing the outline and learning outcomes. Along with the increased use of case studies, its useful Glossary and list of Further Reading, the content will offer food for individual reflection and group discussion, helping you fully engage with this applied area of psychology – an approach praised by lecturers and students alike!
Contents: Preface PART I BEING AND STAYING HEALTHY Chapter 1 What is health?
Learning outcomes
Chapter outline
What is health? Changing perspectives Individual, cultural and lifespan
perspectives on health
What is health psychology?
Summary Further reading
Chapter 2 Health inequalities
Learning outcomes
Chapter outline
Health differentials
Minority status and health
Gender and health
Summary Further reading
Chapter 3 Health-risk behaviour
Learning outcomes
Chapter outline
What is health behaviour?
Smoking, drinking and illicit drug use
Unprotected sexual behaviour
Unhealthy diet Obesity
Summary
Further reading
Chapter 4 Health-protective behaviour
Learning outcomes
Chapter outline
Adherence behaviour
Healthy diet Exercise
Health-screening behaviour
Immunisation behaviour
Summary
Further reading
Chapter 5 Explaining health behaviour
Learning outcomes
Chapter outline
Distal influences on health behaviour
Models of health behaviour
Socio-cognitive models of behaviour change
Stage models of behaviour change
Summary
Further reading
Chapter 6 Changing behaviour: mechanisms and approaches
Learning outcomes
Chapter outline
Developing public health interventions
Strategies for changing risk behaviour
Summary
Further reading
Chapter 7 Preventing health problems
Learning outcomes
Chapter outline
Working with individuals
Using the mass media Environmental interventions
Public health programmes
Summary
Further reading
PART II BECOMING ILL Chapter 8 The body in health and illness
Learning outcomes
Chapter outline
The behavioural anatomy of the brain
The autonomic nervous system
The immune system
The digestive system
The cardiovascular system
The respiratory system
Summary
Further reading
Chapter 9 Symptom perception, interpretation and response
Learning outcomes
Chapter outline
How do we become aware of the sensations of illness?
Symptom perception
Symptom interpretation
Planning and taking action: responding to symptoms
Summary
Further reading
Chapter 10 The consultation and beyond
Learning outcomes
Chapter outline
The medical consultation
Factors that influence the process of consultation
Moving beyond the consultation
Summary
Further reading
Chapter 11 Stress, health and illness: Theory Learning outcomes
Chapter outline
Concepts of stress
Types of stress
Stress as a physiological response
The stress and illness link
Summary
Further reading
Chapter 12 Stress and illness moderators
Learning outcomes
Chapter outline
Coping defined Stress, personality and illness
Stress and cognitions
Stress and emotions
Social support and stress
Summary
Further reading
Chapter 13 Managing stress
Learning outcomes
Chapter outline
Stress theory: a quick review
Stress management training
The third wave therapies
Preventing stress
Minimising stress in hospital settings
Summary
Further reading
PART III BEING ILL Chapter 14 The impact and outcomes of illness: patient perspective
Learning outcomes
Chapter outline
The impact of illness
Coping with illness
Illness and quality of life
Measuring quality of life
Summary
Further reading
Chapter 15 The impact and outcomes of illness: families and informal caregivers
Learning outcomes
Chapter outline
Illness: a family affair
Expectancies of care
Family systems and family members
Consequences of caring for the caregiver
Influences on caring outcomes
Summary
Further reading
Chapter 16 Pain Learning outcomes
Chapter outline
The experience of pain
Biological models of pain
A psychobiological theory of pain
Future understandings of pain: the neuromatrix
Helping people to cope with pain
Summary
Further reading
Chapter 17 Improving health and quality of life
Learning outcomes
Chapter outline
Coping with chronic illness
Reducing distress
Managing illness
Preventing disease progression
Summary
Further reading
PART IV FROM THEORY TO PRACTICE Chapter 18 From theory to practice
Learning outcomes
Chapter outline
The need for theory-driven practice
Getting evidence into practice
…and finally, be positive
Summary
Further reading
Glossary References Index
