HEALTH PSYCHOLOGY AND CARRIER PROSPECTS - MEERA JACOB

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TRAINING AND CAREER PROSPECTS IN HEALTH
PSYCHOLOGYMEERA JACOBI M.SC CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY
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HEALTH PSYCHOLOGY

• Health Psychology- the educational, scientific
  and professional contributions of Psychology
• to the promotion and maintenance of health
• the prevention and treatment of illness
• the identification of etiology and diagnostic
  correlates of health, illness and related
  dysfunctions
• the improvement of the health care system and
• health policy formation.

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• Health psychology is concerned with all aspects
  of health and illness across the life-span.
• Health psychologists focus on health promotion
  and maintenance which includes such issues as how
  to get children to develop good health habits,
  how to promote regular exercise, and how to
  design a media campaign to get people to improve
  their diets.
• They also study the psychological aspects of the
  prevention and treatment of illness. A health
  psychologist might teach people in a high-stress
  occupation how to manage stress effectively so
  that it will not adversely affect their health.
  He might work with people who are already ill to
  help them adjust more successfully to their
  illness or to learn to follow their treatment
  regimen.

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• Health psychologist also focus on the etiology
  and correlates of health, illness and
  dysfunction. Health psychologists are especially
  interested in the behavioral and social factors
  that contribute to health or illness and
  dysfunction. Such factors can include health
  habits such as alcohol consumption, smoking,
  exercise, the wearing of seat-belts and ways of
  coping with stress.
• Finally, the health psychologists analyze and
  attempt to improve the health care system and the
  formulation of health policy. They study the
  impact of health institution and health
  professionals on peoples behavior and develop
  recommendations for improving health care.

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HEALTH PROMOTION

• In recent years, Americans have made substantial
  gains in altering their poor health habits. Many
  people have successfully stopped smoking and many
  have reduced their consumptions of
  high-cholesterol and high fat foods.
• Coronary heart disease and other chronic diseases
  have shown dramatic decreases as a result.
  Although alcohol consumption patterns remain
  largely unchanged. Exercise has increased.
• Despite these advances overweight and obesity are
  currently endemic and will shortly take over from
  smoking as the major avoidable contributor to
  mortality.

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• In particular it is expected to see the design of
  interventions for mass consumption at the
  community level, the workplace level and the
  schools.
• By reaching people through the institutions in
  which they work and live and by integrating
  health behavior-change materials into existing
  work and community resources, we may reach the
  goal of modifying most peoples behavior in the
  most efficient and cost-effective manner.

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MAJOR ASPECTS OF HEALTH PROMOTION

• Focus on those at risk
• Prevention
• Focus on the elderly
• Refocusing health promotion efforts.
• Promoting resilience
• Promotion as a part of medical practice
• Socioeconomic status and health disparities
• Social change to improve health
• Gender health

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Subfields Within Health Psychology

• Clinical Health Psychology This subfield of
  health psychology is strongly linked to clinical
  psychology and involves activities such as
  psychotherapy, behavior modification and health
  education.
• Community Health Psychology Individuals working
  in this subfield of health psychology often focus
  on developing interventions and prevention
  techniques at the community-level. These
  professionals may conduct assessments of
  communities or work with groups to encourage
  healthy behaviors or promote behavior change.

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• Public Health Psychology These health psychology
  professionals focus on understanding health at
  the population-level and often offer advice to
  health care professionals, government agencies
  and health educators.
• Occupational Health Psychology This is an
  emerging subfield within health psychology that
  incorporates industrial-organizational psychology
  and related disciplines. Occupational health
  psychologists focus on understanding how
  workplace issues are linked to both physical and
  mental illness.

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TRAINING IN HEALTH PSYCHOLOGY

• Health psychologists typically hold a doctoral
  degree (Ph.D. or Psy.D.) in psychology.
• Applied health psychologists are licensed for the
  independent practice of psychology in areas such
  as clinical and counseling psychology, and board
  certification is available in health psychology
  through the American Board of Professional
  Psychology.
• Often, psychologists preparing for a career in
  health psychology obtain general psychology
  training at the undergraduate and doctoral
  levels, but then receive specialty training at
  the postdoctoral or internship level.

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• Some programs have been developed which offer
  specialized training in health psychology at
  undergraduate and graduate levels. Here are some
  specifics of training in health psychology at
  various levels
• Undergraduate Because of the field's
  biopsychosocial orientation, students are also
  encouraged to take courses focusing on abnormal
  and social psychology, learning processes and
  behavior therapies, psychophysiology, anatomy and
  physiology, psychopharmacology, community
  psychology, and public health.

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• Graduate Many doctoral programs in clinical,
  counseling, social, or experimental psychology
  have specialized tracks or preceptor ships in
  health psychology. A number of programs now exist
  in the United States and other countries
  specifically for doctoral training in health
  psychology. These programs are quite diverse
  some specialize in training students either for
  research careers or for direct clinical service
  to patients.
• Predoctoral Internships Clinical and counseling
  psychologists are required to complete a one-year
  internship/residency before obtaining their
  doctorates. Many of these programs offer some
  training in health psychology. A number of
  internship programs provide specialized training
  in health psychology in which at least half of
  the trainee's time is spent in supervised health
  psychology activities.
• .

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• Postdoctoral Fellowships Many university medical
  centers, universities, health centers, and health
  psychology programs offer specialized research
  and/or clinical training in different areas of
  health psychology.
• Training programs often vary with regard to
  specific educational emphases, formats and
  content of formal instruction, research
  opportunities, and opportunities to engage in
  supervised clinical training..
• While a doctorate degree is usually required in
  order to become a licensed health psychologist,
  there are some employment opportunities for those
  with a bachelor's degree or master's degree.

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• .
• Professional training influences the way in which
  health care professionals think about clinical
  issues and influence the tools with which they
  evaluate and subsequently treat patients.
• The training in Clinical Health Psychology is
  complementary to the medical training of
  physicians due to its focus on the empirical
  investigation of cognition, behavior, emotions
  and interpersonal relationships.
• The focus on health behavior change and
  prevention in training for the Health psychology
  subspecialty equips practitioner with a
  perspective that has advantages over both
  traditional Clinical Psychology and Psychiatry
  training models.

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• Specifically, Psychologists are trained in
  research, program evaluation and measurement of
  behavior, areas in which Psychiatrists and other
  mental health practitioners are not as thoroughly
  trained.
• Training in Health Psychology incorporates the
  study of behaviors that promote good physical and
  emotional health, such as smoking cessation,
  weight management, development of adaptive coping
  mechanisms, and adjustment to chronic illness, in
  addition to traditional mental health training.
• Health psychologists are thereby able to assess
  these areas and intervene to promote healthy
  behaviors with or without a DSM-IV diagnosis.

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CAREER PROSPECTS
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• What do health psychologists do?

Research 57.1
Education 58.6
Health/mental health service 71.5
Educational services 20.9
Management/ administration 20.4
Other 3606
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• Where do health psychologists work?

Colleges universities 24.9
Medical school 15.9
other academic settings 3
Schools and other educational settings 1
Independent practice 27.4
Hospitals and clinics 17.4
Other 11
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The Work Setting of a Health Psychologist

• Health psychologists participate in health care
  in a multitude of settings including primary care
  programs, inpatient medical units, and
  specialized health care programs such as pain
  management, rehabilitation, women's health,
  oncology, smoking cessation, headache management,
  and various other programs. They also work in
  colleges and universities, corporations, and for
  governmental agencies.

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• Clinical health psychologists take the scientific
  knowledge obtained from research in health
  psychology and apply it to patients with physical
  and emotional illnesses.
• They are interested in preventing illness, in
  treating those who are ill, and in improving
  peoples' general physical and mental well-being.
• They are knowledgeable about the critical
  interrelationships between behavior, mental
  health, physical diseases, interpersonal
  relationships, the health care delivery system,
  and optimum health.
• Clinical health psychologists work with patients
  to modify the effects of stress, lifestyle, and
  personality functioning in optimizing health and
  preventing and treating illness.

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• The health psychologist has many options
  available for involvement in matters of health
  and illness, and the medical care delivery system
  can benefit greatly from the expertise of the
  psychologist.
• In todays medical care arena, many psychologists
  function as independent clinicians and
  consultants to the entire health care team. They
  are often indispensable in evaluating the
  psychological aspects of patient care.
• They work directly with the patients or in
  consultation with the medical care team to design
  treatments that are suited not only to the
  patients physical needs but to the patients
  psychological needs as well.

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• The psychologist must work with the patient to
  help him or her evaluate the life-plan changes
  that are required to accommodate the limitations
  of illness and to adjust to the treatment
  necessary to maintain optimal functioning.
• The psychologist might also work with the
  patients family members to assist them in coming
  to terms with the changes in their own lives that
  result from the patients condition.
• The psychologist must support their attempts to
  assist the patients in coping with illness.
• Many health psychologists with considerable
  training work with clients whose emotional
  concerns are influenced by the complications of
  illness.

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• In this capacity, he must be extremely
  knowledgeable about the current research on the
  connection between mind and body and remain
  constantly up-to-date on the latest findings
  relevant to the connection between physical
  health and psychological processes.
• Some health psychologists go into the allied
  health professional fields such as social work,
  occupational therapy, dietetics, physical therapy
  and public health.

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• Clinical Work In clinical and medical settings,
  health psychologists often conduct behavioral
  assessments, clinical interviews and personality
  tests.
• Other tasks often involve participating in
  interventions with individuals or groups. Such
  interventions may involve educating people about
  stress reduction techniques, offering smoking
  cessation tips and teaching people how to avoid
  unhealthy behaviors.
• Assessment approaches often include cognitive and
  behavioral assessment, psychophysiological
  assessment, clinical interviews, demographic
  surveys, objective and projective personality
  assessment, and various other clinical and
  research-oriented protocols.

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• Interventions often include stress management,
  relaxation therapies, biofeedback,
  psychoeducation about normal and
  patho-physiological processes, ways to cope with
  disease, and cognitive-behavioral and other
  psychotherapeutic interventions.
• Healthy people are taught preventive health
  behaviors. Both individual and group
  interventions are utilized. Frequently, health
  psychology interventions focus upon buffering the
  effect of stress on health by promoting enhanced
  coping or improved social support utilization

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• Research Many health psychologists also conduct
  research on a variety of health-related issues.
  For example, researchers may focus such things as
  the causes of health problems, effective
  preventive measures, the best health promotion
  techniques, how to best help people cope with
  pain or illness and how to get people to seek
  treatment for medical conditions.
• Health psychologists are on the leading edge of
  research focusing on the biopsychosocial model in
  areas such as HIV, oncology, psychosomatic
  illness, compliance with medical regimens, health
  promotion, and the effect of psychological,
  social, and cultural factors on numerous specific
  disease processes (e.g., diabetes, cancer,
  hypertension and coronary artery disease, chronic
  pain, and sleep disorders).

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• Research in health psychology examines
• the causes and development of illness,
• methods to help individuals develop healthy
  lifestyles to promote good health and prevent
  illness,
• the treatment people get for their medical
  problems,
• the effectiveness with which people cope with and
  reduce stress and pain,
• biopsychosocial connections with immune
  functioning, and
• factors in the recovery, rehabilitation, and
  psychosocial adjustment of patients with serious
  health problems

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• Public Policy Work Some health psychologists
  work in government or private agency settings to
  influence public policy on health issues. This
  work might involve discussions with government
  agencies, addressing inequalities in health care
  or advising governmental bodies on health care
  reform.

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