PSY8060 Health Psychology

Contents

• Staffing
• Requisites
• Rationale
• Synopsis
• Objectives
• Topics
• Texts
• Reference materials
• Student workload
• Assessment details
• Important assessment information
• Assessment notes
• Production date
• PDF version

STAFFING

REQUISITES

RATIONALE

Many preventable causes of acute and chronic illness and premature death are associated with lifestyle and environment, rather than biological and physiological inadequacy. Also, the well being of individuals already suffering from acute and chronic illness can be enhanced with psychological assistance in managing psychological aspects of symptoms and medical treatments. In order to address lifestyle-related health issues and psychological aspects of chronic and acute illness management, practitioners need to understand the biopsychosocial factors in health, how to assess these factors and integrate them into interventions.

SYNOPSIS

This course will examine biopsychosocial factors associated with mortality and morbidity in the Australian culture. It will consider research and theory relevant to health and lifestyle-related behaviour. A range of health attitudes, assessment methods and interventions will be reviewed, and students will use several of these methods in practice sessions. This course will be offered through three two-day compulsory workshops on-campus, each of two days duration.

OBJECTIVES

On successful completion of this course students will be able to demonstrate the following competencies identified by the APS Competencies for Psychologists (1996) and the competency document for the College of Health Psychologists and Clinical Psychologists. Specifically they will be able to:

1. demonstrate an understanding of the most important biopsychosocial causal factors in the origins of most common health problems (Assignment 1 and Test);
2. appropriately select from and implement a range of assessment strategies relevant to these problems (Assignment 1 and Test));
3. identify and assess the relationship between health attitudes and health behaviours (Assignment 1 and Test));
4. demonstrate an understanding of the links between stress, coping and support systems (Assignment 1 and Test));
5. appreciate gender and cross cultural aspects of health related behaviour and attitudes (Assignment 1 and Test));
6. understand and implement strategies of motivational interviewing (Video and Test));
7. understand and implement strategies for facilitating attitudes, beliefs and behaviour related to pain management (Video and Test)).

TOPICS

TEXT and MATERIALS required to be PURCHASED or accessed

ALL textbooks and materials are available for purchase from USQ BOOKSHOP (unless otherwise stated). Orders may be placed via secure internet, free fax 1800642453, phone 07 46312742 (within Australia), or mail. Overseas students should fax +61 7 46311743, or phone +61 7 46312742. For costs, further details, and internet ordering, use the 'Textbook Search' facility at http://bookshop.usq.edu.au click 'Semester', then enter your 'Course Code' (no spaces).

Llewelyn, S & Kennedy, P (Eds) 2003, Handbook of clinical health psychology, Wiley & Sons, Milton, Qld.

White, CA 2001, Cognitive behaviour therapy for chronic medical problems: A guide to assessment and practise, John Wiley, Chichester; New York.

REFERENCE MATERIALS

Reference materials are materials that, if accessed by students, may improve their knowledge and understanding of the material in the course and enrich their learning experience.

Journal of health psychology,

Journal of health and human behaviour,

Journal of health and social behaviour,

American psychological association health psychology section (Available: www.apa.org/divisions/div38).

European health psychology society (Available: www.ehps.net/).

Society of behavioural medicine (Available: socbehmed.org/sbm/sbm.htm).

International society of behavioural medicine (Available: www.psy.miami.edu/isbm/).

The Motivational Interviewing Page (Available: www.motivationalinterview.org).

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Allen, F 1998, Health psychology - theory and practice, Allen & Unwin, Australia.

Antoni, M 2003, Stress management intervention for women with breast cancer, American Psychological Association, New York.

Baler, CD & Deardorff, W 1995, Clinical health psychology in medical settings: a practitioner's guidebook, American Psychological Association, New York.

Baum, A & Anderson, B (eds) 2001, Psychosocial interventions for cancer, American Psychological Association, New York.

Block, A, Gatchel, RJ, Deardorff, W & Guyer, R 2003, The psychology of spine surgery, American Psychological Association, New York.

Frank, RG & Elliott, TR 2000, Handbook of rehabilitation psychology, American Psychological Association, Washington, DC.

Gatchel, RJ 2005, Clinical essentials of pain management, 1st edn, APA, Washington, DC.

Gatchel, RJ & Oordt, MS 2003, Clinical health psychology and primary care: practical advice and clinical guidance for successful collaboration, 1st edn, APA, Washington, DC.

Gatchel, RJ & Tusk, DC (eds) 1999, Psychosocial factors in pain: critical perspectives, Guilford Press, New York.

Glanz, K, Lewis, FM & Rimer, B (eds) 2002, Health behavior and health education: theory, practice and research, 3rd edn, Jossey-Bass Publishers, San Francisco, Calf.

Miller, W R & Rollnick, S 2002, Motivational Interviewing: Preparing people for change, 2nd edn, Guildford Press, New York.

Nezu, A, Nezu, CM, Friedman, SH, Faddis, S & Houts, P 1998, Helping cancer patients cope: a problem solving approach, American Psychological Association, New York.

Salmon, P 2000, Psychology of medicine and surgery: a guide for psychologists, counsellors, nurses and doctors, Jacaranda Wiley, Australia.

Schedlowski, M & Tewes, U (eds) 1999, Psychoneuroimmunology: an interdisciplinary introduction, Kluwer Academic/Plenum, London.

STUDENT WORKLOAD REQUIREMENTS

ASSESSMENT DETAILS

NOTES

1.

The 3 Hour Closed In-Class Test will be given on Day 2 of Workshop 3.

2.

On-campus Workshops will be held for two days on three occasions during the semester. Students should consult the Department of Psychology website for the 2008 schedule.

IMPORTANT ASSESSMENT INFORMATION

1. Attendance requirements:
   Participation in On-campus Workshops. The skills components of this course will be taught in three, two-day compulsory workshops held on campus. During these workshops, students will engage in practice of techniques for a variety of assessments. These are essential prior to completion of the assessment reports. If circumstances prevent a student from attending a workshop, the student must contact the examiner to arrange an alternative activity. Attendance at the three workshops and/or completion of one or more alternative activities at a standard judged to be appropriate by the examiner is required before the 1 mark for the workshops can be awarded.
2. Requirements for students to complete each assessment item satisfactorily:
   To complete each of the assignments satisfactorily, students must obtain at least 70% of the marks available for each assignment. To complete the test satisfactorily, students must obtain at least 70% of the marks available for the test.
3. Penalties for late submission of required work:
   No late penalties.
4. Requirements for student to be awarded a passing grade in the course:
   To be assured of receiving a passing grade a student must achieve at least 50% of the total weighted marks available for the course.
5. Method used to combine assessment results to attain final grade:
   The final grades for students will be assigned on the basis of the weighted aggregate of the marks obtained for each of the summative assessment items in the course.
6. Examination information:
   In a Closed Test, candidates are allowed to bring only writing and drawing instruments into the test.
7. Examination period when Deferred/Supplementary examinations will be held:
   Any deferred tests for this course will be held at a date and time determined by the examiner after consultation with the students involved. There will be no supplementary tests in this course.
8. University Regulations:
   Students should read USQ Regulations 5.1 Definitions, 5.6. Assessment, and 5.10 Academic Misconduct for further information and to avoid actions which might contravene University Regulations. These regulations can be found at the URL http://www.usq.edu.au/corporateservices/calendar/part5.htm or in the current USQ Handbook.

ASSESSMENT NOTES

This version produced 27 May 2008.