• promoting and maintaining health and preventing illness,
• understanding how people react to, cope with and recover from illness,
• personalizing treatments and interventions,
• improving health care systems and health policy.

Health psychology asks: What drives health-related behaviours, and how can these behaviours be changed? It also examines how emotions and beliefs are linked with these behaviours and their consequences. Health psychologists, therefore, work across many different environments and groups of people. These include patients, carers and families, individuals in the community, health care professionals, and healthcare systems and institutions. As a result, some basic concepts from the field of health psychology are relevant for anyone working with patients or promoting behavioural changes in practice.

Promoting and maintaining health and preventing illness

While the burden of chronic illness is rapidly increasing worldwide, much of this is preventable. Epidemiological research has demonstrated that primary prevention (e.g., reducing risk factors for cardiovascular disease) is more effective than secondary prevention for reducing deaths from cardiovascular disease. Health psychology has a huge contribution to make in terms of reducing risk factors for illness in populations by identifying specific behaviours (e.g., smoking, poor diet, lack of physical activity, attending medical screening) and targeting them for change.

Health psychology focuses on the psychological mechanisms (e.g., knowledge, attitudes, cognitions) and social influences that may be hindering change and leading to sustained unhealthy behaviour patterns. A better understanding of these processes helps identifying optimal ways to support people to break out of such unhealthy routines and, for example, stop smoking or increase fruit consumption. The development and use of eHealth applications has steadily increased in this area, and the delivery of behaviour change techniques via Apps and devices provides a very interesting opportunity for health psychology.

Understanding how people react to, cope with and recover from illness

Illness has psychological effects that can impact recovery. Individuals may experience stress, anxiety or depression, or struggle with what the illness may mean for their identity. Health psychologists try to better understand how to best support individuals dealing with illness, while also examining the complex links between cognitions, coping, outcomes and important health behaviours (e.g., medication adherence in different populations). Health psychologists critically consider the definition and measurement of key illness behaviours, for example: How can adherence to medication be measured? What is an ‘acceptable’ level of adherence? Theories and models are used to explain and predict illness-related behaviours and outcomes, and form the basis for designing interventions to make positive changes in behaviours. Health psychologists also try to find out how and for whom these interventions are most effective.

Personalizing treatments and interventions

We want to find out how for example a change in goal-setting or social skills may lead to better outcomes, e.g., improved self-management or generating social support; such a finding implies a mediation effect. These findings are important because it will enable us to improve our interventions since it opens the black box of the intervention and shows which ingredients effectively work and have an effect on the outcome when we are able to change them. In addition, it is also very important to know what works best for whom. Suppose a Cognitive Behavioural or Mindfulness intervention helps cancer patients to cope with the implications of the disease, we will see that some individuals do not respond to the treatment they were given. Research techniques enable us to find out whether patients with certain characteristics (like gender, age, or a personality characteristic) respond better or worse to one of these treatments. This is very helpful in determining which treatment works best for whom – a personalized treatment.

Improving health care systems and health policy

The ways in which doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals interact with a patient can have a significant impact on the patient’s response to illness and treatment. As well as working with patients, carers and families, health psychologists may work with health care professionals. Health psychology has an important role to play in the education of healthcare professionals by promoting patient-centered care that facilitates increased self-management, allowing individuals to have control over their health and helping them make better choices. This includes examining the communication style of healthcare professionals and finding ways to better match the style with patients’ needs in order to improve healthcare outcomes. So, for example in various countries Health Psychology Departments at Academic Hospitals train medical students in the above.

Reaching out to Health Psychologists

If you are dealing in your work with issues described above and you like to be informed about the latest developments in this area, we suggest to keep an eye on our Health Psychology Practical Blog. In addition, if you need practical help, do not hesitate to get in contact with a Health Psychology Department in your own country and to see whether they can help. Could be anything from answering a quick question to collaboration in for example a health promotion project.

Via: https://practicalhealthpsychology.com/

The WHO Global recommendations on physical activity for health recommend that people aged 65+ years should do at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity, or at least 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity physical activity, or an equivalent combination of moderate- and vigorous-intensity activity throughout the week. It also recommends that older adults perform physical activity to enhance balance and prevent falls on 3 or more days per week, and take part in muscle-strengthening activities at least twice weekly. Despite clear recommendations about the amount of physical activity associated with health gains, around one third of the world’s population is physically inactive, with older people being the most inactive. 

It’s important to note that doing something is better than nothing, even if people can’t quite manage the amount recommended by guidelines. Physical activity can include a range of activity types, from structured exercise classes, to active transport, to gardening and home maintenance. Starting small and building up the amount and intensity of activity and choosing something enjoyable are the best ways to start.  For those who are already participating in more vigorous activities such as running, rowing, or cycling, ageing is no reason to stop if a person’s health allows it. 

Falls are also a common issue in older age, with around 1 in 3 people aged 65 + falling each year. Falls often have lasting, devastating consequences for an older person and their family, and can result in an older person moving into residential aged care. Falls are not inevitable, and can be prevented with regular exercise that challenges balance, such as tandem walking or repeated sit-to-stand exercises.

Older people face particular barriers to being more physically active – these can be financial, physical, social or practical. Some older adults find electronic gadgets that track daily physical activity useful for reminding and motivating them to be more active. 

Some people require a more supported approach to stay on track and reach their physical activity goals. Health coaching is a person-centred approach that commonly includes motivational interviewing techniques and solution-focused goal setting as strategies for promoting behaviour change. A recent systematic review of the effect of health coaching on physical activity among people aged 60+ demonstrated significant improvements in physical activity with this approach.

Goal setting is another strategy that promotes physical activity behaviour change. Goals encourage people to create a sense of urgency and motivation to invest time and energy to make the desired change. To maximise effectiveness, goals should be self-directed and meet S.M.A.R.T  criteria: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Timely.

The social benefits of physical activity participation are often particularly important to older people. There are many options for people who prefer to exercise in organised groups. Many local councils organise free walking groups – these are a way of keeping active in a fun and sociable way. Or for a bit more of a challenge, Parkrun is a free, weekly 5km timed running (or walking) event in more than 1,700 locations across the globe.

At any age the message around physical activity is simple- be as active as you can, in as many ways as possible, as often as you can. Doing something is better than doing nothing, and every little bit counts towards better health.

Via: https://practicalhealthpsychology.com/

Healthy Conversation Skills is a training programme based on social cognitive theory and behaviour change techniques, which promotes empowerment and patient-centred care. It was developed by a multi-disciplinary team at the University of Southampton in consultation with local health and social care organisations. Healthy Conversation Skills is an effective, evidence-based approach that uses practical, easy-to-apply skills to help people identify their own important behaviour change challenges and solutions. All health care professionals can use Healthy Conversation Skills, even within brief consultations.

People do not adopt or change behaviours in isolation. They are influenced by their social world, their physical environment and by other elements outside their control. We need to understand these factors in order to support effective behaviour change. By focusing on finding out more about people’s lives and circumstances, you will be better placed to offer appropriate support and effectively promote health behaviour changes. One tenet of Healthy Conversation Skills is therefore to start by asking people about their priorities, understand their motivation and challenges, and what they feel is the most important thing to focus on.

The programme also encourages practitioners to reflect on the value of asking questions, listening and supporting goal-setting, as opposed to telling people what to do, giving advice or providing information. We can make more effective use of the time we have available to support individuals to improve their health and well-being by using supportive conversations that take the time to listen, learn about and explore people’s worlds, and using this shared understanding to plan first steps to behaviour change. Below are some practical takeaways from Healthy Conversation Skills that you can put to use today.

Practical recommendations

1. Ask open discovery questions. These questions generally begin with “What” or “How”, and invite someone to reflect on their own issues, barriers, solutions and first steps for change. For example, “What would you like to change? What is getting in the way of you making that change? How could you overcome that? What would be a good first step for you?” By asking these questions you can find out a lot about someone and support them to identify the skills and resources they need to make a change.
2. Avoid giving advice or telling people what to do. Just giving advice assumes that people do not already know what you are telling them about the importance of health lifestyle behaviours. This can feel patronising and be disempowering if the individual does not feel capable of changing.
3. Listen and embrace silence. People need time to think, so once you have asked a question, do not rush to fill any silence. Instead, give the person space to formulate their answer, and see silence as thinking. Simply allowing someone the opportunity to speak their mind can be hugely beneficial. It might be the first time they have been listened to in a while, which can feel supportive and empowering. Listening shows that you value their views, and you will learn lots about them, which can help you to help them.
4. Support SMARTER goal-setting (Specific, Measurable, Actionable, Realistic, Timed, Evaluated and Reviewed). People frequently set themselves goals with limited planning as to how they will achieve these. We say, “a goal without a plan is just a wish”! If you try and fail, you are likely to give up. If you try to achieve something smaller and succeed, you are likely to stick with it.
5. Reflect on your conversations and how empowering these are. Taking just a few minutes to look back on how we interact with people, what works and what does not, is a valuable use of time. It helps identify what we do well and where we could improve, and ensures that we are giving our best every day.

Via: https://practicalhealthpsychology.com/