Health psychology - Assignment Example

Topic: Health Psychology Project Identify and explain two definitions of health and illness (300 words).Include Lau (1995) six dimensions of illness (please dont forget to include this definition)Include another definition of health illness as well. According to world health organization health is the state which one is stable, he is thinking upright and is undergoing his day to day activities normally. This normally behavior attribute to one being healthy for instance , the ability of a child to play vigorously and run the all day and eats normal then its considered to be health.

Health can also be defined as believe of person about normalcy. One can believe he is healthy or unhealthy due to a minor cut (Snooks, 2009, p. 43).World Health Organization also define illness as the state at which one is not health in that ones day to day activities is limited because he or she is not mentally or physically stable. For instance a for the case of the child if at all he is un able to play and conduct day to day activities as usual and his movements limited then he can be considered to be suffering from illness.

According to Lau illness was complicated and designed and defined six dimensions, first is the symptoms fact. This is developing changes in the body normal reaction for instance coughing and skin rushes this are not normal body behavior thus one can consider him or her self ill. The second dimension is what the illness leads to (Alder, 2009, p. 55). Illness hinders ones day to day activities they limit mobility and ones ability to perfume certain duties. The third dimension is the how long the symptoms last; the symptoms may last for a long or short period of time thus explaining the magnitude of the illness.

The fourth dimension absence of health, when one is not healthy then is considered to ill this may be due to weight loss or lost of appetite. The fifth dimension entails specific illness which may be triggered by disease or the environmental.2. Explain Biopsychosocial model of health (350 words)Explain how health relate to this model e.g. Physical, mental and social. Biopsychosocial model of health assumes that factors that are essential in human well being are social factors, biological factors as well as ones feelings, behavior, emotions and mind activities.

This is in line with there influence in health, illness and delivery in health care. There is a hierarchy of natural systems at which biological psychological and social factor exists. They range from the biosphere and narrows down to a single person to the very detail that constitutes the human body and pathogens that result o changes to human body. Biopsychosocial argues that what happens at one level cannot be understood without consideration of what is happening at other hierarchical levels.

It encourages the difference of men and women in biological terms. The model recognizes that different clinical scenarios may be important and understood scientifically at different level and hierarchy (Bury, 2005, p. 88). The Biopsychosocial model emphasizes on inclusion of biological psychological and social influences upon human. It argues that the minds work can affect the body and same to the brain in that the body’s activities can affect it. So it’s important to handle biological psychological and social effects as the reasons for ones health.

The model relates to health in the following ways. First are social effects, in that the social surrounding will affect the health of an individual. For instance the surrounding may lead to a person engaging in smoking which result in him getting lung cancer, this may explain the little details that entails the hierarchy in the Biopsychosocial model.The other factor is the biological one in that health issues are influenced by genes. In that a person with sickle anemia may have acquired it through the genes that are in his or her family lineage.

The other factor is that what ones take in his system one due to hunger may result in taking junk food which is a result of heart problems (Snooks, 2009, p. 100). The last factor is the psychological. One may feel psychologically affected and hence as a result leads him or her to engage in smoking which result in him or her getting lung cancer. Doctor use all the three factors to diagnose the patient.References Alder, B., 2009. Psychology and Sociology Applied to Medicine: An Illustrated Colour Text.

New York: Elsevier Health Sciences.Bury, M., 2005. Health and Illness. New York: Polity.Snooks, M., 2009. Health Psychology: Biological, Psychological, and Sociocultural Perspectives. Chicago: Jones & Bartlett Learning.