The importance of health psychology in healthcare

A fast-growing field at the crossover point between psychology and clinical care, health psychology has much potential to change the world.

With its multi-disciplinary perspective and by focusing on mental health and wellbeing at every step, the field is capable of revolutionising how patients are dealt with throughout their healthcare journey.

The importance of health psychology

Acknowledging the limitations of traditional healthcare models, health psychology favours a more holistic approach by looking at the root causes of healthcare issues and encouraging psychological solutions to prevent illnesses at an early stage.

Therefore, a holistic point of view is important to fully understand the psychological factors that play a role in health and illness.

Reactive vs proactive healthcare

Whilst reactive healthcare focuses on alleviating symptoms and solving existing problems, proactive healthcare (sometimes referred to as preventative healthcare) attempts to stop those problems from happening in the first place, by changing circumstances, behaviours and/or thinking patterns.

In order to make proactive healthcare work, early intervention is key. In some cases, prescribing medication and treatment is the only answer, but, in other cases, prevention – as advised by health psychologists – should be seen as a priority.

Health psychology examples:

• Nutritional advice and diet planning

• Addiction therapy

• Post-operation rehabilitation

• Stress-reduction therapies

How health psychology can tackle healthcare challenges

Being proactive can help healthcare providers foresee a problem before it arises, such as an increased risk of diabetes or a genetic predisposition. Health psychology can then explore ways of mitigating the risk of illness through behavioural change and encouragement of healthier habits.

For example, it is much more efficient to lower the risk of obesity through dietary changes than to wait until obesity becomes a bigger issue and requires medical treatment and expensive hospital recovery.

Health psychologists address their patients’ barriers to a healthy lifestyle and help them make better choices to protect their physical health in the long term. By doing so, we can better confront some of the world’s most urgent healthcare crises, including:

• Obesity

• Diabetes

• Cardiovascular disease

• Dementia

• Addiction

• High blood pressure

• Cancer

The positive impact of health psychology

Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) – such as cardiovascular diseases, cancers, respiratory diseases, and diabetes – are the greatest cause of mortality worldwide. They account for 41 million deaths per year, including 15 million premature deaths (BMC).

However, many of these premature deaths could be curbed by addressing ‘metabolic risk factors’ such as raised blood pressure, obesity and high/low blood sugars. Modifying unhealthy behaviours such as tobacco use, poor diet and alcohol abuse would reduce these risks and save on healthcare costs.

Source: https://online.ulster.ac.uk/blog/importance-of-health-psychology/

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