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1. Part One: Introduction to Health Psychology Chapter 1: What is Health Psychology?

7. Problems in family functioning that may result. Helping people make informed appropriate decsions is fundamentally a Psychological task. Patients play in fundamental decision regarding their health and illness and its management, and of the help health psychologists can provide in this process. Changing patterns of illness have been charted and followed by the field of epidemiology, this is a study of the frequency, distribution, and causes of infectious and non-infectious diseasein a population, based on an investigation of the physical and socil enviroment. In the context of epidemiologic statistics, we will see frequent use of two important terms: Morbidity: Number of cases of a disease that exist at some given point in time. Morality: Refers to numbers of deaths due to particular causes.

9. Psychologists have been involved in the development of behavior-change programs to teach people to practice better health habits, including not smoking, getting exercise, eating a balanced diet, practicing safe sex, reducing alcohol consumption avoiding accidents and managing stress. Psychologists learned many years ago that preparing patients to undergo unpleasant Medical procedures, such as surgery, improves their adjustment to those procedures. Increased Medical Acceptance Although health psychologists have been employed in health seetings for many years, their value is increasingly recognized by physicians and other health care professionals. Caregivers are increasingly recognizing that psychological and social factors are always important in health and illness. Demonstrated Contributions to Health

10. The health psychologist can be a valuable member of the research team by providing the methodological and statistical expertise that is the hallmark of good training in psychology. Health psychology is important because the major health problems of the day, especialy the origin and treatment of chronic illness, can increasingly be understood substantially in of psychological and social factors; the field of health psychology terms addressesan issue of paramount economic and social importance, namely, Health Care. Methodological Contributions