The Self-regulation of Health and Illness Behaviour


Book Description

Self-regulation theory focuses on the ways in which individuals direct and monitor their activities and emotions in order to attain their goals. This text presents recent developments in health psychology research, covering topics such as representational beliefs, anxiety and personality.




The Self-Healing Personality


Book Description

With breakthroughs in understandings of the disease prone and self-healing personalities Dr. Howard S. Friedman gives his answers to important questions. Why are certain people more likely to achieve health than other, seemingly similar, people? How can one increase their chances of preserving their health? What are the health effects of our chronic mood states? How are heart disease, cancer, arthritis, and other diseases related to personality? How can the disease-prone personality be altered? The answers to these questions are emerging from an exciting new interdisciplinary health science, and The Self-Healing Personality is the authoritative source for understanding state-of-the-art findings that can allow you to enhance your capacity for a long and healthy life. "A really important book! We must empower individuals to preserve their own health. This book should be read by everyone wanting an elegant, understandable explanation of the latest scientific findings." —Dr. Margaret Chesney, President, Health Psychology Division, American Psychological Association




The Self in Health and Illness


Book Description

This book contains a foreword by Elliot G Mishler - professor of Social Psychology, Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School. Patients' views of their identity change with illness, as do health professionals' views of them. This book discusses how and why this happens, and examines how more awareness of this phenomenon can lead to better care. Providing examples from diverse clinical settings, "The Self in Health and Illness" brings together writers from a range of backgrounds including health science, anthropology, sociology, psychology, nursing, medical ethics and healthcare. It considers the narrative self (or constructions of identity) and its place within healthcare and the medical humanities, and assists in clarifying the understanding of 'self' in the context of illness, health and medicine. An enlightening read for all doctors, especially those with an interest in medical humanities, this anthology is also invaluable for undergraduate and postgraduate students of medical humanities, researchers in health sciences and medical ethics. It will also be of great interest to medical anthropologists, psychologists, psychiatrists and other healthcare professionals. 'If you ask people questions about their lives they tell stories that express some version of "who" they are. Within the healthcare field, narrative researchers from various health professions and social science disciplines have been particularly interested in the potential impact of disability and illness on patient identities. What we find here is an array of quite systematic approaches to the complexities with which people narrate, perform, and possibly transform their identities through their stories. This is a serious undertaking and the editors and authors of these papers treat it with deep respect for our common struggle to make sense of our lives by achieving identities we can live with.' - Elliot G Mishler, in the Foreword.




Social Psychological Foundations of Health and Illness


Book Description

Social Psychological Foundations of Health and Illness is a summary of current research in social-health psychology. The chapters, written by distinguished leaders in the field, provide brief surveys of classic developments in each area of study followed by extended discussion of the authors’ research programs. Includes state-of-the-art descriptions of new findings and theories concerning social aspects of physical health and illness. Discusses virtually all of the major topics studied in the contemporary field of social-health psychology. Contains chapters written by leading figures in the field that discuss their own research within the context of classic efforts.




Narrative Research in Health and Illness


Book Description

This comprehensive book celebrates the coming of age of narrativein health care. It uses narrative to go beyond the patient's storyand address social, cultural, ethical, psychological,organizational and linguistic issues. This book has been written to help health professionals andsocial scientists to use narrative more effectively in theireveryday work and writing. The book is split into three, comprehensive sections;Narratives, Counter-narratives and Meta-narratives.




Health and Illness in a Changing Society


Book Description

Author is a leading researcher & teacher of med. sociology Medical Sociology has become firmly established in US. Each chapter draws on 'classic' and up-to-date research Draws on contemporary ideas such as feminisim and social construction Author has published widely and is well respected in his field Detailed, critical analysis of recent research in Medical Sociology




The Self-Regulation of Health and Illness Behaviour


Book Description

Self-regulation theory focuses on the ways in which individuals direct and monitor their activities and emotions in order to attain their goals. It plays an increasingly important role in health psychology research. The Self-regulation of Health and Illness Behaviour presents an up-to-date account of the latest developments in the field. Individual contributions cover a wide range of issues including representational beliefs about chronic illness, cultural influences on illness representations, the role of anxiety and defensive denial in health-related experiences and behaviours, the contribution of personality, and the social dynamics underlying gender differences in adaptation to illness. Particular attention is given to the implications for designing effective health interventions and messages. Integrating theoretical and empirical developments, this text provides both researchers and professionals with a comprehensive review of self-regulation and health.




Making Sense of Illness


Book Description

`This book is a "must read" for all students of health psychology, and will be of considerable interest and value to others interested in the field. The discipline has not involved itself with the central issues of this book so far, but Radley has now brought this material together in an accessible way, offering important new perspectives, and directions for the discipline. This book goes a long way towards making sense for, and of, health psychology′ - Journal of Health Psychology What are people′s beliefs about health? What do they do when they feel ill? Why do they go to the doctor? How do they live with chronic disease? This introduction to the social psychology of health and illness addresses these and other questions about how people make sense of illness in everyday life, either alone or with the help of others. Alan Radley reviews findings from medical sociology, health psychology and medical anthropology to demonstrate the relevance of social and psychological explanations to questions about disease and its treatment. Topics covered include: illness, the patient and society; ideas about health and staying healthy; recognizing symptoms and falling ill; and the healing relationship: patients, nurses and doctors. The author also presents a critical account of related issues - stress, health promotion and gender differences.




Self-Management in Chronic Illness


Book Description

Self-management is a term that was used as early as the 1960s when it was applied during the rehabilitation of chronically ill children. Subsequently, self-management was applied as formalized programs for a variety of populations and health issues. In reflecting on self-management, it is important to note that it would be difficult for individuals not to be aware of their specific health behaviors, which could include unhealthy behaviors. As self-management has evolved, essential skills identified include behavioral modeling, decision making, planning, social persuasion, locating, accessing and utilizing resources, assisting individuals to form partnerships with their health care providers and taking action. These are key skills that would benefit health professional educators, clinicians and patients. This book, consisting of three parts, provides insights into the aspects of self-management as it relates to its definition and application. It highlights how self-management can be applied to various long-term health conditions, for different populations or target groups and in different contexts. The text provides an overview of self-management and the rationale for its applications by illustrating its use in specific clinical conditions and in different sub-populations and target groups. Academics can use the book as a textbook when teaching postgraduate and undergraduate students about self-management as a technique to facilitate community reintegration for individuals living with long-term conditions. It can also be used by clinicians to enhance their management of individuals with long-term conditions. Furthermore, researchers can use the text to expand and support their research in this area.




Illness Behavior


Book Description

In August, 1985, the 2nd International Conference on Illness Behaviour was held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The first International Conference took place one year previous in Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. This book is based on the proceedings of the second conference. The purpose behind this conference was to facilitate the development of a single integrated model to account for illness experience and presentation. A major focus of the conference was to outline methodological issues related to current behaviour research. A multidiscipl~nary approach was emphasized because of the bias that collaborative efforts are likely to be the most successful in achieving greater understanding of illness behaviour. Significant advances in our knowledge are occurring in all areas of the biological and social sciences, albeit more slowly in the latter areas. Marked specialization in each of these areas has lead to greater difficulty in integrating new knowledge with that of other areas and the development of a meaningful cohesive model to which all can relate. Thus there is a major need for forums such as that provided by this conference.