1. Introducing Health Psychology

2. 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

3. Young people (1 - 44) most likely to die from: Accidents (unintentional injuries) Violent deaths –Murder (Homicide) –Suicide

4. 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

5. Income and Disease Poverty & low education = health problems & lower life expectancy Unrelated to ethnicity

6. Education and disease Inverse relation between education and disease More education = less disease

7. Are living longer? 1900 = 47.3 years 2007 = 77 years 30% increase

8. Why has the life expectancy increased? Main factor = lower infant mortality

9. 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

10. 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

11. What is health? Newer (more inclusive model) Biopsychosocial model Includes: Biological, Psychological, and Sociological (social) influences. Viewpoint of health psychologists Eg. Psychosomatic illness

12. 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

13. 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

14. What is the focus of health psychology? Health enhancement Disease prevention Rehabilitation Interdisciplinary team member