health psychology

Health Infographic Project

Step 1: Identify a Health Problem

The first step is to identify a health problem that you are interested in targeting. You can do this in several different ways. First, think about any health conditions that you may have personally experienced. Maybe you yourself have had a health scare, a family member or close friend. Have you read an article lately about someone who struggled with a certain health problem? If not, check out some of the health problems listed in our textbook. You will find these in chapters 11, 13, and 14. I also like to read the Health section in TIME magazine. You will find it located here: http://time.com/health/

Here are some things to keep in mind when you are thinking about choosing your health problem. Your health problem MUST be a diagnosable medical problem. For example, smoking is not a diagnosis. Lung cancer is the medical problem associated with the behavior of smoking. Your health problem has to be a medical diagnosis.

Here’s something else of which to be mindful. Our ultimate goal is to change a health behavior. Therefore, your health problem has to have a behavioral component to it. An easy example might be something like this. The health problem is obesity (Step 1) and the associated behavior you want to change is exercise (Step 3). Whatever problem you choose, be sure that you can easily identify the associated behavior that you are going to change in Step 3. I could argue that every health problem has a psychological/behavioral component to it. However, sometimes it’s harder to identify the behavioral component. For example, something like cancer appears to be very biological/medical only. However, even cancer has a behavioral component to it. Things such as our lifestyle choices will influence whether or not we get cancer. Once diagnosed with cancer, our attitudes toward it can influence whether or not we recover from it. Just remember that your goal is not to cure cancer. Your goal is to change those behaviors associated with cancer.

If you are having problems identifying a health problem, please feel free to contact me.

After you have decided on your health problem, do some research regarding your health problem. You may use your textbook, scholarly websites (no Wikipedia), scholarly journals, or other such reputable sources. You should use at least two sources. Do not forget to cite these references in your in-text citations and reference list. Both of these should be written using APA formatting.

Based on your research, write an ESSAY (including an introduction and conclusion) in which you answer the following questions:

Before beginning to write, make sure that your health problem is a medical diagnosis.

1. What are the symptoms of the health problem?

2. What is the prevalence of the health problem? (How common is the problem?)

3. What are the causes of the problem? (You can list several, but your focus should be on behavioral/psychological causes. See the explanation above in the general instructions.)

4. Why is this health problem a particular concern? Here are some things to consider:

a. Are people likely to die from this problem?

b. Does it reduce quality of life? If so, how?

c. Does it reduce a person’s ability to do things he/she once did?

d. Does it make the person feel bad/influence mental well-being? If so, how?

e. Is the treatment protocol difficult (chemotherapy; expensive medications, time consuming)?

5. Why did you choose this problem? (Think about these things: Did it effect you or someone you know? Is it interesting? Why? Is it a hot topic? Does is influence society at-large?)

6. Why does this problem need to be addressed?

Remember you may have no more than ONE sentence that is a direct quote. Papers with two or more direct quotes/sentences will receive a grade of 0.  This means that your ENTIRE paper/assignment may not have more than one sentence that is copied from a source. A direct quote is generally three or more words copied from another source.