Health Psychology Book

1. Introduction.

The Field of Health Psychology.

Definition of Health Psychology.

Early Research Literature.

Current Research Literature.

The Individual Perspective.

Conducting Research in Health Psychology.

Research Designs.

The True Experiment.

Correlation and Causation.

Prospective versus Retrospective Studies.

Longitudinal versus Cross-Sectional Research.

The Field versus the Laboratory.

Being a Health Psychologist.

Basic Issues in Medical Care.

A Brief History of Medicine.

Western versus Non-Western Traditions.

Holistic Approaches.

Alternative and Complementary/Integrative Medicine.

The Mind-Body Connection.

Psychosomatic and Behavioral Medicine.

Medicine Today: The Meaning and Impact of Managed Care.

Psychological Factors in Illness and Disease.

I. MEDICAL COMMUNICATION, MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS, AND THE PATIENT'S PERSPECTIVE.

2. The Process of Medical Care.

Introduction to Medical Professionals, Patients, and the Treatment Exchange.

The Four Premises of Medical Care.

Language in Medical Care: The Role of Words and Gestures.

Viewpoint and Skill in Communication.

Communication Uncovers Hidden Premises.

Technology and People: Promoting Dialogue.

Three Basic Models of the Physician-Patient Relationship.

Variations of the Three Basic Models of Physician-Patient Relationships.

Conflict.

The Medical Care Visit.

History-Taking and Interviewing.

Physical Examination and Diagnostic Tests.

Medical Recommendations.

Informed Collaborative Choice.

Reassurance.

3. Communication in the Medical Encounter.

Basic Issues in Research on Practitioner-Patient Communication.

Communication Problems and Solutions in Therapeutic Interactions.

Time Constraints.

The Patient's Perspective.

Improving the Interview.

Medical Jargon.

The Consequences of Imprecise Communication.

Confusion.

Nonadherence.

Antibiotic Resistance.

Patient Dissatisfaction.

Listening to Patients.

Educating Patients.

Helping Patients to Ask Questions.

Helping Patients to Remember.

Nonverbal Communication and Practitioner-Patient Relationship.

Metacommunication

The Importance of Nonverbal Communication.

Dissecting Nonverbal Cues.

Touch.

Eye Contact.

Facial Expression.

Tone of Voice.

Body Language.

Communication of Emotion.

Bedside Manner.

Empathy.

Developing Empathy.

The Outcomes of Empathy.

Empathy and Practitioner-Patient Rapport.

Maintaining Optimism and the Will to Live.

Emotional Regression.

Who Are the Best Communicators?

4. Medical Professionals in Training and Practice.

The Structural and Physical Pressures.

Time Pressure.

Sleep Deprivation.

Inadequate Nutrition.

Mental Pressure.

Pressures of Training.

The Emotional Challenges of Medicine.

Personal and Family Relationships.

Dealing with Patients.

Failed Expectations about Medicine.

The Loss of Idealism.

The Need to Control Emotions.

Callous Humor.

The Consequences of the Physical and Emotional Pressures.

Anxiety, Depression, and Suicide.

Physician Impairment.

Relationships with Patients.

Job Dissatisfaction and Burnout.

Women in Medicine: The Struggle and the Ideal.

Humanizing Medicine.

Medical Practitioners and the Puzzle of Illness.

Medical Diagnosis.

Decision-Making by Medical Professionals.

Errors in Clinical Decisions.

Stereotypes as Barriers to Clinical Decisions.

Contemporary American Healthcare Systems.

Insurance Reimbursement and Delivery of Care.

Constraints on Professionals and the Impact on Care.

II. PHYSICAL HEALTH AND BEHAVIOR.

5. Staying Healthy.

Medical Communication and Physical Health.

Prevention of Diseases / Impairments.

Degenerative Diseases.

Heart Disease.

Cancer.

Stroke.

Primary Prevention and Behavioral Outcomes.

Safety Restraints.

Immunizations

Safer Sex.

Nutrition and Diet.

Obesity and Weight Control.

Exercise.

Sleep.

Cigarette Smoking.

Alcoholism and Problem Drinking.

Secondary and Tertiary Prevention and Behavioral Outcomes.

Components of Interventions that Work.

Controlling Hypertension.

Controlling Diabetes.

Individual Differences and Personal Characteristics.

Covariation of Health Behaviors.

6. Health Recommendations and Behavior Change.

An Overview of the Determinants of Prevention and Treatment Behaviors.

Adherence to Medical Regimens.

Overview of a Model of Compliance.

Sources of Health Information.

Health Education from the Media.

Health Education from the Medical Interaction.

Health Education from Support Networks.

Historical Perspectives.

Health Belief Model.

Theories of Reasoned Action and Planned Behavior.

Specific Beliefs about Health.

Evaluations of Health Outcomes and the Value of Health.

Persuasion: Changing Beliefs and Attitudes.

Fear Induction.

Exposure to Persuasive Messages.

The Persuasive Person.

Social Cognitive Theory.

Self-Regulative Theories.

Subjective Social Norms: What Other People Think.

Intentions and Commitment.

Turning Commitment into Behavior.

Behavior Modification.

Behavioral Self-Control.

Other Behavioral Strategies.

Cognitive Modification.

Practical Supports and Barriers to Behavior Change.

Social Support.

Mental Control Strategies.

Preventing Relapse.

A Personal Note.

III. BECOMING ILL.

7. The Process of Illness.

Health, Illness, and Disease.

The Paradox of Health and Illness.

The Physician's Dilemma.

The Biomedical versus the Biopsychosocial Model.

Recognizing and Attending to Physical Symptoms.

Seeking Medical Help for Symptoms.

Psychological Triggers for Seeking Help.

The Lay Referral Network.

Additional Determinants of Medical Care Utilization.

Delay in Seeking Treatment.

The Sick Role.

Illness as an Expression of Emotional Needs.

Somatization and Conversion.

A Patient with Psychosomatic Illness.

Hypochondria.

Psychological Factors and the Delivery of Health Services.

8. Pain.

The Significance of Pain.

Pain and the Costs of Health Care Utilization.

What is Pain?

How is Pain Perceived?

Theories of Pain.

Specificity Theory.

Pattern Theory.

Affect Theory.

Gate Control Theory.

Neuromatrix Theory.

Neurochemical Basis of Pain and Pain Inhibition.

Pain and the Immune System.

Cognitive Outcomes of Pain.

Different Types of Pain.

The Quality of Pain.

The Intensity of Pain.

Pain Threshold and Tolerance.

Acute versus Chronic Pain.

What Does Pain Look Like?

Pain and the Medical Encounter.

Psychological Factors and Pain.

Expectations.

Anxiety.

Perceived Control.

Individual Differences in Reactions to Pain.

Personality Differences.

Age Differences.

Infants and Young Children.

Gender Differences.

Social/Cultural Differences.

Ways to Measure Pain.

The Significance of Pain Assessment.

How is Pain Treated?

Surgical Treatment of Pain.

Drug Treatments.

Use of Pain Medications.

Cognitive Methods of Pain Control.

Cognitive-Behavioral Methods of Pain Control.

Progressive Relaxation.

Meditation.

Biofeedback.

Hypnosis.

Behavior Modification in Chronic Pain.

Physical Therapies for Pain.

Preoperative Treatments for Postoperative Pain.

Pain Clinics: Multidimensional Treatment Programs.

9. Psychological Processes, Stress, and Physical Illness.

Psychophysiological Disorders.

The Concept of Stress.

The Meaning of Stress.

The Role of Cognitive Appraisal.

Issues in Conceptualizing Stress.

Chronic Stress.

Hassles of Everyday Life.

Major Life Events.

Mechanisms for the Effects of Stress on Health.

Physiological Reactions to Stress.

The General Adaptation Syndrome.

Psychoneuroimmunology.

Stress, Mood, and Immune Functioning.

Social Support and Immune Functioning.

Emotional Health and Immune Functioning.

Stress, HIV, and the Immune System.

Stress, Tuberculosis, and the Immune System.

Stress and Cardiovascular Disorders.

Coronary Heart Disease (CHD).

Type A Behavior and Heart Disease.

The (Controversial) Cancer Personality.

Psychophysical Disorders and Stress.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

The Difficulties of Assuming Causation.

10. Coping with Stress: The Role of Psychological Processes in Staying Healthy.

Coping Processes.

Problem Solving and Emotional Regulation.

Cognitions and Coping.

Cognitive Coping Styles.

Causal Attributions.

Explanatory Styles.

Sense of Control.

Learned Helplessness.

Hardiness.

Worldview and a Sense of Coherence.

Social Resources and Social Support.

Emotional Disclosure.

Helping People Cope: Interventions that Work.

Mental Control.

Cognitive Retraining.

Exercise.

Relaxation Techniques.

Systematic Desensitization.

Biofeedback.

Learning to Cope: Effective Stress Management.

IV. COPING WITH ILLNESS.

11. Serious Illness: The Patient's Perspective.

Stages of Illness.

Importance of Focusing on Psychosocial Issues.

Serious Illness: The Losses.

Threats to Self-Image.

Loss of Body Integrity.

Interruption of Work.

Loss of Independence.

Threats to Cognitive Functioning.

A Threatened Future.

Strain on Relationships with Loved Ones.

Facing the Emotional Challenges of Serious Illness.

Maintaining Identity through Social Support.

Emotional Development.

Explaining Illness and Injury.

Facing Emotional Conflicts.

Facing Stressful Medical Treatments.

Facing Stresses of Hospitalization.

Communicating with Medical Professionals.

Facing Pain.

Facing Death.

The Role of Emotions in Healing.

Treatment of Ill Patients.

Medical Communication and Treatment Outcomes.

12. A Life-Span Perspective on Chronic Illness and Aging.

Chronic Illness and Disability.

Dealing with Chronic Illness.

Managing Medical Crises.

Controlling the Symptoms.

Carrying out Treatment Regimens.

Coping with an Uncertain Prognosis.

Avoiding or Adjusting to Social Isolation.

Setting Concrete Goals and Making Plans for the Future.

Chronic Illness in Children and Adolescents.

Developmental Tasks and Illness.

Impaired Social Relationships with Peers and Siblings.

The Emotional and Physical Adjustment of the Family.

Chronic Illness in Adulthood.

Chronic Illness in Young Adulthood.

Chronic Illness in Middle Age.

The Effect on the Patient's Children.

How Families Cope.

Chronic Illness and the Aged.

Losses of Old Age.

Care by the Family.

Control of the Environment in Nursing Home Care.

13. Terminal Illness and Bereavement.

Facing Death.

Uncertainty.

The Patient's Experience of Dying.

Stages of Dying.

Anxiety and Loneliness.

Choosing Death.

Caring for Terminally Ill Patients.

Children and Adolescents.

Adults.

Hospice and Home Care.

Bereavement and Grieving.

Grief Experiences.

Cultural Influences on Grieving.

Pathological Grief.

Anticipatory Grieving versus Sudden Death.

Deaths in the Family.

Death of a Parent.

Death of a Sibling.

Death of a Child.

Death before Birth.

Perinatal Death.

Crib Death.

Death of Older Children.

Being Widowed.

Epilogue: The Future of Health Psychology.

Morbidity versus Mortality

Cost Containment and Care Equalization.

Women's Health.

Healthy Aging.

Genetics and Health.

Outcomes Research.

V. APPENDIX SECTIONS.

Appendix A: The Human Body

The Human Body.

Overview of Anatomy and Physiology.

Skeletal System.

Muscular System.

Cardiovascular System.

Respiratory System.

Gastrointestinal System.

Nervous System.

Endocrine System.

Immune System.

Appendix B: Psychometric Instruments Commonly Used in Health Psychology Research.

Listing, by category, of commonly used research instruments in Health Psychology (with references).