1
Q
Definitions of health
A
- Commonly seen as absence of objective signs and subjective symptoms that body is not functioning properly -> issue: someone can be unhealthy without signs or symptoms
- Better definition: positive state of physical, mental, and social well-being (not simply the absence of injury) or disease that varies over time and along a continuum
2
Q
Illness/wellness continuum
A
- Continuum demonstrating that health and sickness aren’t separate -> should be seen on a continuum instead of categorically, and can vary over time
- Death -> major disability from illness -> symptoms and minor disability -> worse-than-average signs -> neutral -> average signs -> healthful signs and lifestyle -> very healthful signs and lifestyle -> optimal wellness
3
Q
illness in the past
A
- In past, dietary (ie. Malnutrition) and infectious (ie. By bacteria or virus) diseases were common
- Ex. Tuberculosis leading cause of death in Canada at confederation
4
Q
illness today
A
- Today, people in developed nations live longer, and suffer different illnesses
- Infectious diseases are still one main cause of death today in developing countries, but have declined significantly because people take preventative measures (ie. Better nutrition, hygiene, etc.)
- In 20th century, chronic diseases became common (ie. Heart disease, cancer), and is main cause of health problems/death in developed countries like Canada -> due in part because people are living longer, are more stressed, and are exposed to harmful chemicals
- Today, main cause of death in childhood/adolescence is accidental injury
5
Q
historical views of mind and body: early cultures
A
believed illnesses were caused by mythical forces like evil spirits (cure: trephination)
6
Q
historical views of mind and body: ancient greece/rome
A
- Hippocrates’ (Father of Medicine) humoral theory: 4 balanced fluids = health (solution: diet and avoid excesses)
- Plato: mind and body are separate entities (mind not related to health) -> today, seen as separate concepts (body is physical being, mind is abstract processes like feelings)
- Galen: illnesses can be localized, different diseases have different effects
7
Q
historical views of mind and body: middle ages
A
influence of religion - humans and animals were not allowed to be dissected because they have souls; sickness seen as God’s punishment for bad things; priests involved in medicine
8
Q
historical views of mind and body: Renaissance and after
A
- Descartes: body as a machine -> mechanics of action and sensation, mind and body are separate but can communicate through pineal gland, animals have no soul and soul leaves human bodies at death -> dissection is okay
- 18-19th centuries: rejected humoral theory, surgery flourished, biomedical model
9
Q
problems in the healthcare system
A
Rising costs, Canada’s publicly-funded healthcare adds a burden to taxpayers, biomedical model limited in ability to treat chronic illnesses like cancer (survival rates due to early detection, not improved treatments)
10
Q
psych’s role in healthcare: who is “the person” in health and illness?
A
- Each unique individual, including their lifestyle (which can substantially influence risk of illness and early death), risk factors (both biological and behavioural), and personality (ie. Conscientious people live longer)
- Not factored into biomedical model
11
Q
how did the role of psychology emerge in healthcare?
A
- From Freud, who while working as a physician saw that some patients had physical symptoms with no detectible organic disorder -> “conversion hysteria”
- Psychosomatic medicine: mind and body are involved in symptoms; very medical
- 2 fields emerged to study role of psychology on illness:
- Behavioural Medicine: interdisciplinary, originated from behaviourism (behaviour results from classical conditioning or operant conditioning – punishment vs. reward) -> link between mind and body is direct
- Health psychology
12
Q
4 goals of health psychology
A
- promote and maintain health
- prevent and treat illness
- identify the causes and diagnostic correlates of health, illness, and related dysfunction
- analyze and improve healthcare systems and health policy
13
Q
what is health psychology
A
- Based on psychology, and draws heavily on other psychology subfields (clinical, social, developmental, etc.) to identify and alter lifestyle processes that lead to illness, and improve functioning and recovery for people who are sick
- Health psychologists work in hospitals, clinics, or as university academics
- Direct help: therapy to help manage problems from illness; biofeedback to control pain, etc.
- Indirect help: research about lifestyle and personality in illness/injury -> education
14
Q
biopsychosocial perspective
A
- Adds to the biomedical model -> includes the person (adds psychological factors – ie. cognition, emotion, motivation; and social factors – ie. Society, community, family; biological factors – ie. genes, physiology)
- All 3 factors affect and are affected by the person’s health
15
Q
biomedical model
A
- all diseases or physical disorders can be explained by disturbances in physiological processes resulting from injury, biochemical imbalances, infections, etc.
- assumes disease affects body and is separate from the mind
16
Q
lifespan and gender perspective
A
- People’s characteristics are considered with respect to their prior development, current level, and likely future development (ie. Kids are less likely to have a stroke than seniors)
- Throughout people’s lives, health, illness, and roles of biological, psychological, and social systems change; gender also plays a role in health behaviour and illness
17
Q
related fields to health psychology
A
- psychology (ie. Clinical and social)
- medicine (ie. Internal, family, cardiology, oncology, etc.)
- allied fields (nursing, nutrition, etc.)
- epidemiology (studying distribution and frequency of disease)
- public health (protecting, maintaining, and improving health through organized effort in the community)
- sociology and anthropology (study of society & culture)
- health economics & health policy (supply & demand for resources, cost of healthcare, etc.; decisions made my governments, organizations, etc. regarding health)
18
Q
epidemiological terms
A
- Mortality: deaths
- Morbidity: illness
- Prevalence: number of cases
- Incidence: number of new cases
- Epidemic: incidence of disease increases rapidly
- Pandemic: epidemic that has reached worldwide proportions
19
Q
health and psychology differences across cultures
A
- Socio-cultural differences in health: different diseases prevalent in different countries, between ethnic groups of same country (ie. In Canada, cardiovascular disease lower in Chinese community compared to white & South Asian community), between genders, etc.
- Many attitudes and beliefs about health and illness remain (ie. Traditional medicine, yin and yang, FN’s views about HIV (“gay disease”) and cancer (“cannot be fixed”), religious views (ie. Praying for cure)
20
Q
research methods in health psych
A
- experimental methods
- non-experimental methods
- Which research method is best?
- If you want cause-and-effect: randomized controlled trials (experimental)
- If you want to avoid the artificial lab environment: intensive longitudinal/daily process studies (ie. Paging people during day to collect info) - non-experimental
- None are “best”; experimental and non-experimental can be used simultaneously too
21
Q
experiments
A
- manipulating IV to observe effect on DV; random assignment; potentially using placebo group along with control and experimental; double-blind study
- Establish cause-and-effect as long as:
- – IV and DV varied together
- – Cause preceded effect
- – Other plausible causes ruled out
22
Q
non-experimental methods
A
- no manipulation of IV/DV
- correlational studies
- quasi-experimental studies
- genetics research
23
Q
non-experimental methods: correlational studies
A
changes in one variable correspond with another variable -> can establish relationships
24
Q
non-experimental methods: quasi-experimental studies
A
- like experiments, but lack random assignment (ex. Ex post facto study: subjects grouped based on existing variable, like gender, diet, etc.) -> like correlational, can establish relationships; ex. Developmental designs, case studies and qualitative interviews (small group of people, in depth)
- Ex. Retrospective approach: looking back at histories of subjects to find commonalities that may suggest why they have the disease
- Ex. Prospective approach: looking forward into lives of individuals by studying whether differences at one point (ie. Diet) are related to differences at a later time (ie. Heart attacks)
25
non-experimental studies: genetics research
- Twin studies: because MZ twins are genetically identical, we can assume differences between them are due to environment
- Adoption studies: if adopted children more similar to biological parents, heredity has influence (and vice versa)
- Epigenetics: the fact that a gene can be switched on/off due to environment, and this change can be passed down through generations
26
mind-body problem
whether the mind and body are interrelated (Plato: no; Aquinas: yes)
27
5 leading causes of death in Canada
- Cancer
- Heart disease
- Stroke
- Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
- Accidents (ie. Car crashes, overdoses, etc.)
28
biofeedback
a person's physiological processes, like blood pressure, are monitored by the person so they can gain voluntary control over them
29
behavioural vs. cognitive methods
- Behavioural: applying principles of operant conditioning to change behaviour
- Cognitive: changing people's feelings and thought processes (ie. Problematic beliefs)
30
system
dynamic entity with components that are interrelated (ex. Body, family)
31
theory
tentative explanation of why certain events occur (ie. Theory that high cholesterol causes heart disease)
PSYC 314
flashcards
Decks in class (10)
# Cards
