© 2012 McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.McGraw-Hill/Irwin© 2012 McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Health Psychology 8 th edition Shelley E. Taylor Chapter Fifteen: Health Psychology: Challenges for the Future

© 2012 McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.15-2 Health Promotion - focus on those at risk - focus on prevention - focus on the elderly - refocus health promotion efforts - promote resilience - use promotion as part of medical practice - study SES and health disparities - study gender and health

© 2012 McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.15-3 Stress and its Management Where is stress research headed? - research should focus on at-risk populations for stress-related disorders - advances will come from research on neurophysiology of stress - significant advance: social support can buffer stress

© 2012 McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.15-4 Health Services Building better consumers: - those who are ill aren’t always those who receive treatment - patients need to be co-managers in their own care - there needs to be better patient-provider communication Containing health care costs: - appropriate use of health services

© 2012 McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.15-5 Management of Serious Illness Quality-of-life assessment: - develop cost-effective interventions to improve quality of life Pain management: - shift away from pharmacologic and invasive surgical pain control techniques Terminal care The aging of the population: - shift in population toward the older years

© 2012 McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.15-6 Trends in Health and Health Psychology The changing nature of medical practice: - health psychology needs to be responsive to changes in health trends and medical practice - patterns of infectious disease show drug-resistant strains - increasing availability of risk factor testing

© 2012 McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.15-7 Trends in Health and Health Psychology (cont.) Impact of technology: - contributes to enormous costs of medicine - transplantation issues and concerns Comprehensive intervention: - models that concentrate and coordinate medical and psychological expertise in well-defined areas of medical practice

© 2012 McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.15-8 Trends in Health and Health Psychology (cont.) Systematic documentation of cost and treatment effectiveness: - health psychology research is designed to keep people out of the health care system altogether - important goal of health psychology for the future - cost containment pressures - lack of empirical data - evidence-based medicine International health

© 2012 McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.15-9 Becoming a Health Psychologist Undergraduate experience: - take courses related to health psychology - develop knowledge about the biological basis of behavior - take courses in human physiology, neuroscience and physiological psychology - use summers effectively: - get some research experience in the field - work in a medical school, hospital or with an HMO

© 2012 McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved Becoming a Health Psychologist (cont.) Graduate experience: - acquire a Ph.D. and decide whether your interests are in research, clinical practice or both - take appropriate courses and perform hands-on field experience whenever possible Postgraduate work: - following graduate school, get additional training in a postdoctoral research opportunity

© 2012 McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved Becoming a Health Psychologist (cont.) Employment: - 45% of health psychologists go into academic settings/medical schools - teach undergraduates and graduate students - conduct research programs - 35% work with medical patients in a hospital or other treatment setting - others are employed in the workplace, usually as consultants for the government or other employers