Health psychology has become the most rapidly growing field of psychology over the
past 15 years. The field is concerned with understanding human behaviour in the
context of health and illness. As such the field is a large one and covers such
areas as how individuals cope with illness and chronic disease, psychological influences
on the development of disease states, understanding and improving adjustment in
healthcare settings, patient - practitioner communication, adherence to treatment,
determinants of health-related behaviours (diet, exercise etc), and understanding
how individuals make sense of and react to health screening, symptoms, and illness.
The impetus for the development of health psychology has stemmed from the fact that
many of these areas of research and practice have not been directly addressed by
medicine. The field has been bolstered by the usefulness of psychological models
in explaining patient behaviour and developing effective interventions in areas
that have been problematic in the health field. There is increased recognition of
the need for health services to pay more attention to the psychological aspects
of medical problems and to improve healthcare interactions. Increasingly, health
professionals are dealing with chronic illness, ageing and the problems of living
with disability. All these areas have major health psychology components.
Health Psychology in New Zealand
Recent structural changes in the administration of health services in New Zealand
have also created a greater need for researchers sophisticated in the health field
to evaluate the benefits and liabilities of particular health service programmes
and outcomes. At present, there is a lack of skilled researchers to conduct these
evaluations at both the provider and purchaser levels. The continued push for cost
containment and justification will also draw health providers into developing more
effective and carefully assessed treatment programmes from primary to tertiary services.
Postgraduate programmes in Health
Psychology
Facilities
There are excellent facilities and resources for teaching and research in health
psychology on both the Health Science Campus and the Tamaki Campus of The University
of Auckland. The Health Science Campus has close proximity and contact with medical
institutions throughout the region. The campus also has ready access to clinical
populations of special interest to health psychologists such as oncology services,
cardiac services, neurology, obstetrics and gynaecology, specialist pain services,
and other tertiary and specialty centres.
These important features are complemented by the existence at the Tamaki Campus
of many other relevant health- and exercise-related journals and the proximity and
links with health research groups and clinics in departments such as Sports and
Exercise Science, UniSports Medicine and Training Centre, Speech Language Therapy
and the School of Population Health.
