Health Psychology: A Critical Introduction

Cover......Page 1
Half-title......Page 3
Title......Page 5
Copyright......Page 6
Dedication......Page 7
Contents......Page 9
Acknowledgements......Page 10
Setting out: using this book......Page 11
1 Locating the field: introducing health psychology......Page 15
A historical view of health and disease......Page 17
Biomedicine and the biomedical model......Page 19
Changes in health and disease......Page 20
The biopsychosocial model......Page 21
The development of health psychology......Page 23
Psychosomatic medicine, behavioural medicine, behavioural health......Page 25
Other disciplines relevant to health psychology......Page 27
Approaches within health psychology......Page 28
Community health psychology......Page 29
Critical health psychology......Page 31
Health psychology: a critical introduction......Page 32
Individualism......Page 33
Questioning research assumptions......Page 34
Reflexiveness......Page 36
SES......Page 37
Gender......Page 39
Gender differences in morbidity......Page 40
Being male: what does it mean for health?......Page 41
Gender differences in health: what else matters?......Page 42
Age......Page 43
Ethnicity......Page 45
Summary and conclusions......Page 48
RECOMMENDED READING......Page 49
2 Thinking about health and the body......Page 50
The rise of biomedicine......Page 51
Understandings of health......Page 52
Illness experiences......Page 55
Age......Page 56
SES......Page 60
Culture and ethnicity......Page 61
Thinking about the body......Page 66
Bodies in medicine......Page 68
Gendered bodies......Page 69
Disabled bodies......Page 72
Summary......Page 74
Implications of our understandings of health
and the body......Page 76
Conclusions......Page 77
RECOMMENDED READING......Page 78
What are lifestyles and how do they relate to health?......Page 80
Health promotion and attempts to influence lifestyles......Page 83
Influencing lifestyles: individualist approaches......Page 84
Health locus of control......Page 86
Self-efficacy......Page 87
Attitude models......Page 88
The Health Belief Model......Page 89
The Theory of Planned Behaviour......Page 90
Stage models......Page 91
Criticisms of the social cognition approach to changing lifestyles......Page 92
Other approaches based on the social cognition approach
to changing lifestyles......Page 94
How effective are individualist approaches
to changing lifestyles?......Page 95
Implications of the individualist approach......Page 96
Influencing lifestyles: structural-collective approaches......Page 99
Collective action......Page 100
How effective are structural-collective approaches
to changing lifestyles?......Page 104
Individuals through the lifecourse......Page 105
Experience......Page 106
Culture......Page 107
Globalisation......Page 109
Consequences of health promotion efforts
to change lifestyles......Page 110
Conclusions: what do we need in health psychology?......Page 113
RECOMMENDED READING......Page 114
What do people do to prevent disease?......Page 116
Factors influencing BSE behaviour......Page 118
Factors influencing TSE behaviour......Page 119
Population screening......Page 120
Effectiveness of breast cancer screening......Page 121
Factors influencing uptake of breast cancer screening......Page 122
Effectiveness of cervical cancer screening......Page 126
Prostate cancer screening......Page 127
Colorectal cancer screening......Page 128
Effectiveness of colorectal cancer screening......Page 129
Problems with population screening......Page 130
Psychological costs of screening information and invitations to attend......Page 131
Psychological costs of participating in screening......Page 132
Psychological costs of abnormal and false-positive results......Page 133
Pre-natal testing......Page 134
Predictive testing......Page 136
The psychological effects of genetic testing......Page 138
Broader implications of genetic testing......Page 139
Disease prevention by surgery......Page 140
Disease prevention with drugs......Page 143
HRT......Page 144
Implications of secondary prevention approaches......Page 145
Medicalisation and self-surveillance......Page 146
Consequences for identity and subjectivity......Page 147
Conclusions......Page 148
RECOMMENDED READING......Page 149
5 Becoming ill......Page 150
Stress......Page 152
Major life events as stressors......Page 153
Minor life events as stressors......Page 157
Stress as a process......Page 159
Reflections on stress and coping research......Page 162
How might stress affect health?......Page 164
Optimism and pessimism......Page 165
Type A behaviour pattern......Page 166
Hostility and anger......Page 167
Emotional inhibition......Page 168
Religious belief/spirituality......Page 169
Summarising psychological factors involved in illness......Page 170
Social support......Page 171
How does social support affect health?......Page 173
Gender......Page 175
SES......Page 177
Environments......Page 178
Cardiovascular reactivity......Page 180
Psychoneuroimmunology......Page 181
Becoming ill: critical reflections......Page 185
RECOMMENDED READING......Page 189
6 Comprehending bodily experience......Page 191
Why bother researching how people interpret physical
sensations in their own bodies?......Page 192
Stable factors: self-awareness, neuroticism, negative affectivity, somatisation......Page 193
Transient factors: mood, attention, expectations......Page 196
Stress......Page 197
Cognitions about illness and disease......Page 198
Gender......Page 201
Age......Page 203
Cultural orientation......Page 204
Dominant representations......Page 205
Somatisation and culture......Page 207
Dominant understandings: mechanistic nature of pain......Page 209
Gate-control theory: individual and social factors......Page 210
Contextualising the pain experience: cultural influences......Page 212
Summary and implications: the meaning of pain......Page 213
Implications of traditional psychological research for
our knowledge concerning symptom perception......Page 214
Conclusion......Page 215
RECOMMENDED READING......Page 216
7 Interacting with health professionals......Page 217
Who are ‘health professionals ’?......Page 218
What influences people to seek care from a health
professional?......Page 219
Social factors......Page 220
Gender......Page 221
Doctor–patient interactions: why is a successful interaction so important?......Page 223
The patient in doctor–patient interaction......Page 225
Culture......Page 226
The doctor in the doctor–patient interaction......Page 229
Communication patterns......Page 232
Discussing unconventional therapies......Page 233
Breaking bad news......Page 234
The context of the doctor–patient interaction......Page 235
Culture and the health care system......Page 236
Ethnicity......Page 237
People with disabilities......Page 238
A shift to patient-centredness......Page 239
The Internet and health communication......Page 241
Where to go from here? Agendas for research examining interactions with health professionals......Page 243
The patient as consumer......Page 244
The medicalisation critique......Page 245
The working lives of health professionals......Page 247
Conclusion......Page 248
RECOMMENDED READING......Page 249
8 Treatingillness......Page 251
Sectors of health care and contemporary practice......Page 253
Self-treatment......Page 256
Treatment by health professionals......Page 259
Treatment in hospital......Page 263
Self-care in the treatment of chronic illness......Page 267
Non-conventional treatment......Page 270
Compliance, adherence or concordance?......Page 275
The problematic placebo......Page 280
Who gets treatment?......Page 284
The changing face of treatment......Page 286
RECOMMENDED READING......Page 288
9 Being ill......Page 289
Illness as morbidity: the scope of illness......Page 290
Illness as crisis: adjusting to illness......Page 291
Coping with illness......Page 295
Using social support......Page 298
Finding meaning......Page 304
Finding benefit......Page 306
Maintaining quality in life......Page 307
Getting back to normal......Page 313
Illness as story: telling about illness......Page 316
Illness in context: illness and the ‘other’......Page 321
Conclusion......Page 326
RECOMMENDED READING......Page 327
10 Dying......Page 329
Mortality......Page 330
What causes death?......Page 333
The changing context of dying......Page 336
The ways we die: classifying deaths......Page 338
The ways we die: the process of dying......Page 339
Is there such a thing as a good death?......Page 340
Fearing death......Page 343
Adjusting to dying......Page 346
Caring for and about the dying......Page 347
Being bereaved......Page 348
Life after death......Page 350
Death and the health professional......Page 351
Technology as care?......Page 353
Conclusions......Page 355
RECOMMENDED READING......Page 356
11 Relocating the field: critical 
health psychology......Page 357
Locating individuals within their lived social worlds......Page 358
Health in a global context......Page 361
A critical health psychology......Page 370
Moving forward with theory......Page 373
Moving forward with method......Page 374
Moving forward with practice......Page 375
Concluding comments......Page 378
RECOMMENDED READING......Page 379
Glossary......Page 380
References......Page 386
Author index......Page 440
Subject index......Page 454