Health Psychology

According to Ad Kaptein (2004), “(…) Health Psychology is concerned with the study of psychological process in health, illness and health care. Health psychologists study behavioural factors associated with staying healthy, and they examine how patients with health problems can be helped to improve their quality of life. They may also examine individuals in an experimental setting, work with groups in real-life settings, or observe social interactions taking place betwen health-care professionals and patients in a variety of health-care contexts.

Health psychology is one of the fastest-growing subdisciplines in psychology, if not the fastest.

Health and ilness have long been the object of scientific and clinical interest for psychologists. The separation between “psychological” on the one hand, and “physical, medical or somatic” on the other, is quite superficial and unhelpful- modern developments in the area of psyco-neuro-immunology, for example, or the area of interrelationships between geneticc and behavioural factors in staying healthy or becoming ill, are just some illustrations of this statement.

The relatively successful application of learning –theory principles to patients or clients with psychological problems (e.g. phobias, neurotic symptoms) inspied psychologists to apply these principles to patients with various physical diisordes, and examine the effects of those interventions. (…)”

Areas of Health Psychology

_Education and health promotion
_Public Health
_Health and Illness
_Chronic illness
_Pregnancy and Maternity
_Stress and Coping
_Pain and Chronic Pain
_Avaliation in health and illness
_Emergency contexts
_Study and Intervention on the health systems
_Quality of Life and well-being
_The caregivers
_Pediatric health
_Geriatric health

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Occupational Health Psychology (Ohp)

According to Portland State University, that suites our goals

Occupational health psychology as an interdisciplinary field

Occupational health psychology is a rapidly expanding interdisciplinary field focusing on the promotion, development, and evaluation of workplace health and safety initiatives. OHP researchers and practitioners draw from the domains of public health, preventive medicine, nursing, industrial engineering, law, epidemiology, and psychology to develop sound theory and practice for promoting the safety, health, and wellbeing of individuals in the workplace.

Occupational health psychology specialization

The OHP specialty area focuses on the application of psychology to protect and promote worker safety, health, and well-being, and to improve the quality of work-life for employees.

Areas of occupational health psychology

A representative list of topics included in this doctoral specialization includes:

_ Health,Well-being, and Work-life Quality
_ Job Enrichment
_ Management Development
_ Organization Development
_ Team Building
_ Risk Perceptions
_ Job Stress and Burnout
_ Individual Differences and Health
_ Health and Stress in Organizations
_ Vocational/Rehabilitation Programs
_ Aggression and Violence
_ Sexual Harassment
_ Task and Equipment Design
_ Workplace Design and Safety
_ Work and Family Issues
_ Employee Assistance Programs
_ Environmental Stressors
_ Research Methods
_ Statistical Methods/Data Analysis
_ Ethical, Legal, and Professional Issues