How is Health Psychology Applied?
Health psychology research and theory has a wide range of applications from the development of evidence-based guidance to the design and delivery of local NHS services. Health psychologists also provide training and support to other health professionals as well as working directly with patients requiring psychological support and care in relation to physical health conditions.
Individual health psychologists have different areas of specialism. Some examples of health psychology applications are provided below.
For more information see the British Psychological Society Division of Health Psychology
Examples of Health Psychology Applications
Applications of Health Psychology include:
- developing and evaluating interventions to enhance patient self-management/ health-related behaviour change (e.g. smoking cessation, weight management)
- developing and validating assessment tools to evaluate the effects of health interventions (including pharmacological, cognitive, behavioural and motivational interventions)
- developing NHS services for patients with co morbid physical and mental health conditions
- contributing to the development of evidence-based guidance for management of long-term conditions
- working with organisations to improve the health and wellbeing of their members/ employees
- working at an individual level with patients requiring support for living with and managing long-term conditions
- working at an individual level with patients requiring support for health-related behaviour change
- working with other health care professionals (e.g. occupational therapists, physiotherapists, nurses, GPs) to support patients' physical and psychological health care needs
- providing advice and support to other health care professionals to enable them to use psychology theory and methods in their work (e.g. to understand patients' illness beliefs and communicate risk information)
- developing, delivering and evaluating health psychology teaching and training programmes
- developing and evaluating interventions to enhance patient self-management/ health-related behaviour change (e.g. smoking cessation, weight management)
- developing and validating assessment tools to evaluate the effects of health interventions (including pharmacological, cognitive, behavioural and motivational interventions)
- developing NHS services for patients with co morbid physical and mental health conditions
- contributing to the development of evidence-based guidance for management of long-term conditions
- working with organisations to improve the health and wellbeing of their members/ employees
- working at an individual level with patients requiring support for living with and managing long-term conditions
- working at an individual level with patients requiring support for health-related behaviour change
- working with other health care professionals (e.g. occupational therapists, physiotherapists, nurses, GPs) to support patients' physical and psychological health care needs
- providing advice and support to other health care professionals to enable them to use psychology theory and methods in their work (e.g. to understand patients' illness beliefs and communicate risk information)
- developing, delivering and evaluating health psychology teaching and training programmes