Biopsychosocial Assessment In Clinical Health Psychology

Filling a key need, this practical volume provides state-of-the-art approaches and tools for evaluating both health-related behaviors and psychosocial aspects of medical illness. The book begins by presenting a comprehensive biopsychosocial assessment framework. Evidence-based strategies are described for assessing such key lifestyle factors as tobacco use, alcohol and other drugs, physical activity, and social support. Behavioral, cognitive, and emotional issues associated with a range of specific medical conditions--including cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, chronic pain, and others--are addressed. Chapters on assessment of specific populations cover pediatric patients, older adults, ethnic/racial minority groups, organ transplant and bariatric surgery patients, and primary care.

Provides a conceptual framework to enable practitioners to tailor assessment, formulation and treatment procedures to the idiosyncratic presentation of their client's problems. This work is useful for the practising clinicians working in this context of health-related problems.

First Published in 1991. With any new area of research, particularly one in which development has been so rapid and influential, it is important to take stock of progress and identify critical issues. Health Psychology shows great potential both as a research area and a profession, and the careful planning of good quality research and of appropriately structured training programs if imperative if this potential is to be realised. this book explores the way in which this discipline has developed internationally and the nature of different types of training programs which have emerged. This book is intended for health psychologists who are interested in the latest developments in their field around the world and will be particularly valuable to those responsible for training programs.

This open access book is a systematic update of the philosophical and scientific foundations of the biopsychosocial model of health, disease and healthcare. First proposed by George Engel 40 years ago, the Biopsychosocial Model is much cited in healthcare settings worldwide, but has been increasingly criticised for being vague, lacking in content, and in need of reworking in the light of recent developments. The book confronts the rapid changes to psychological science, neuroscience, healthcare, and philosophy that have occurred since the model was first proposed and addresses key issues such as the model’s scientific basis, clinical utility, and philosophical coherence. The authors conceptualise biology and the psychosocial as in the same ontological space, interlinked by systems of communication-based regulatory control which constitute a new kind of causation. These are distinguished from physical and chemical laws, most clearly because they can break down, thus providing the basis for difference between health and disease. This work offers an urgent update to the model’s scientific and philosophical foundations, providing a new and coherent account of causal interactions between the biological, the psychological and social.

Electronic Inspection Copy available for instructors here "This book extends the ongoing discussion on critical approaches within clinical and health psychology. In particular, it emphasises the need to consider the importance of social and cultural factors in understanding health, illness and disability. With detailed examination of a wide range of empirical studies it demonstrates the vibrancy of contemporary critical psychological research." - Michael Murray, Keele University "Provides an original overview of areas within health and clinical psychology that are frequently overlooked in other textbooks. It is distinctive in three major ways: first, it takes an explicitly critical approach, and therefore locates our current psychological understandings of issues within health and clinical psychology within their broader social and cultural contexts. Second, it considers both physical and mental health simultaneously, which is a major strength. Third, it is unique in its scope and focus. In achieving these distinctive features, this text competently draws on up-to-date research and literature across a range of disciplines and fields in an accessible and engaging manner... I personally think it should be a must-read for all those studying and working within the health psychology field!" - Antonia Lyons, Massey University This textbook gives a clear and thought-provoking introduction to the critical issues related to health, illness and disability in clinical and health psychology. Challenging some of the preconceptions of ill-health of the biomedical approach, the book explores how health and illness is often shaped by factors such as culture, poverty, gender and sexuality, and examines how these influences impact on the experience and treatment of physical and mental illness as well as disability. Students are introduced to literature from disciplines other than psychology to provide multiple perspectives on these complex issues. Critical Issues in Clinical and Health Psychology is a key textbook for undergraduate and postgraduate students taking courses in health or clinical psychology, as well as for students from other disciplines related to health and mental health care.

Foundations of Health Psychology brings together top experts to provide a much-needed conceptual base for this rapidly expanding field. Rather than take a medical model approach, the volume examines health psychology from a theoretical, conceptual, and psychological perspective. After presenting an overview of the field's history and methods, the contributors address major concepts of the biopsychosocial approach to health and then discuss applications to health promotion and effective treatment and prevention.

This highly popular health psychology text, which is both a working reference manual for professional health psychologists and a highly regarded teaching tool, is now appearing in a fully revised and updated new edition. The first section looks at the foundations of good practice, including how to carry out an effective initial clinical interview and assessment. In the next main section, detailed chapters then address the most important medical conditions dealt with by psychologists, including cardiovascular and respiratory disorders, chronic pain, diabetes, endocrine and gastrointestinal problems, AIDS, MS, obstetric and gynecological conditions, and many more. The final section looks at community, social, spiritual, and creative involvement, including effective methods for helping patients cope with their medical conditions, alternative health methods, and risk reduction in minority populations. The authors and contributors have extensive academic and clinical experience in the diverse areaswhere health psychology techniques can be productively implemented, and their enthusiasm to help others master these methods come through in the clarity with which they explain the tools of the health psychologist's trade.

Assessment in Health Psychology presents and discusses the best and most appropriate assessment methods and instruments for all specific areas that are central for health psychologists. It also describes the conceptual and methodological bases for assessment in health psychology, as well the most important current issues and recent progress in methods. A unique feature of this book, which brings together leading authorities on health psychology assessment, is its emphasis on the bidirectional link between theory and practice. Assessment in Health Psychology is addressed to masters and doctoral students in health psychology, to all those who teach health psychology, to researchers from other disciplines, including clinical psychology, health promotion, and public health, as well as to health policy makers and other healthcare practitioners. This latest volume in the series Psychological Assessment – Science and Practice provides a thorough and authoritative record of the best available assessment tools and methods in health psychology, making it an invaluable resource both for students and academics as well as for practitioners in their daily work.