QM News 63 (pdf 752KB) - Queen Margaret University

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PAGE 06 UNDERSTANDING THE LINK BETWEEN PSYCHOLOGY AND HEALTH Academics at Queen Margaret are using the principles of psychology to understand the major health related challenges facing society today. Health psychology examines the factors which influence health behaviour by applying psychology to the understanding of health, illness and healthcare. The principles can be used to explain some of the unhealthy behaviours exhibited by today’s society, such as smoking, binge drinking, bad diets and lack of exercise, and why many people choose to ignore advice from health professionals. But as well as helping us understand why some people take risks with their own health, psychology can also be used to explain why people become ill, how individuals behave when diagnosed with an illness and how they adapt to and recover from it. Michele Hipwell is a lecturer in Health Psychology at Queen Margaret. “The way people think and behave affects their health but an individual’s health will also affect the way they think and behave,” explains Michele. “Health psychology examines how health and behaviour are linked. It examines why people adopt behaviours and continue to act in a way that they know will have a negative impact on their health, such as smoking. But it also focuses on improving the experiences and wellbeing of people with chronic illness, and examines the ways in which people cope with diabetes or cancer, for instance.” Health Psychology at Queen Margaret is run at undergraduate, postgraduate and doctorate level and all courses are accredited by the British Psychological Society. Training to be a Chartered Health Psychologists is a rigorous and extensive process, taking seven years in Scotland or six in England. Charteredship is gained through completion of a Masters degree, followed by the presentation of a portfolio illustrating a range of competencies gained through work experience or a PhD, supervised by a chartered health psychologist. Chartered status can also be gained through the taught doctoral route while working in areas related to health psychology. Queen Margaret has run the MSc for the past five years, in which time over 80 students have successfully completed the programme, and is the first higher education institute in the country to run the taught doctoral programme, which started in 2005, with 12 students currently enrolled on the course. The BSc in Health Psychology continues to be the only one of its kind in Scotland. Health psychology touches on many areas connected to health. The principles can be applied to public health, health promotion and policy making, in addition to activity concerned with specific health-related matters, including cardiovascular disease, pain management, cancer management, HIV/AIDS and diabetes. And the principles can also be applied to the study of other behaviours which could have a negative impact on people’s wellbeing, such as bullying, domestic abuse, phobias, stress and body image. Current Queen Margaret Health Psychology student, Paul Millar, is a clinical hypnotherapist and uses the principles of health psychology every day in dealing with clients who have issues with weight, smoking, phobias, anxiety and depression. “Health Psychology at Queen Margaret has given me much more of an insight into the bases of these conditions,” says Paul. “It teaches models of health behaviour that people adopt to deal with problems and knowing how these models work has substantially improved the quality of my practice. “What’s more, health psychology sees the client as a whole human being whose body and mind are fully integrated in dealing with issues of health. This is a very modern approach to health issues that recognises that clients are active participants in their own healing. My clients much prefer to have their own hard work recognised; to be seen, not as passive victims, but as taking active measures on their own behalf. This lies at the core of health psychology and is a very appealing healing approach for my clients.”
PAGE 07 Queen Margaret has been involved in research which deals with the wide range of issues connected to health, wellbeing and the promotion of healthy lifestyles. These include the effects of sugar on eating behaviour and mood, developing risk assessments and evaluating stress management interventions, and examining the effect of meditation on stress levels and positive attitudes in Buddhists and people who practice meditation. Students have addressed core health priorities in their dissertations including sexual health, HIV/AIDS and strokes. “Our PhD students are currently involved in some interesting work,” says Michele. “One has just been involved in the development of a ‘heart manual’ for people with heart failure in conjunction with York University. This manual has been designed to help people with heart problems manage their illness more effectively by looking at their lifestyle and mental health and helping them develop and maintain a better lifestyle. “Another student has been working at Astley Ainslie Hospital in Edinburgh to help identify the training needs of the medical staff and other health professionals working in cardiac treatment and rehabilitation. And another is working with a mental health charity in the Borders which provides art courses for people with mental health problems. “All these students are using the principles associated with health psychology in very different ways but what all these research projects have in common is that they all focus on ways of improving people’s quality of life in relation to their health,” says Michele. To date, Health Psychology graduates have secured employment across a diverse range of health-related contexts including the NHS, occupational settings and other institutions in the higher education sector. It is envisaged that there will be more demand for health psychologists in healthcare settings in the future, as the wide range of skills and services applicable to health psychology continues to increase.
Page 1 and 2: The magazine for alumni and friends
Page 3 and 4: NEWS - PAGE 01 QUEEN MARGARET RESEA
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Page 11 and 12: PAGE 09 “Some older people who li
Page 13 and 14: PAGE 11 RESEARCH NEWS ALCOHOL ABUSE
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Page 17 and 18: PAGE 15 GRADUATE SHORTLISTED FOR FI
Page 19 and 20: PAGE 17 Hussain Nasser (nee Naser),

QM News 63 (pdf 752KB) - Queen Margaret University

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