The expression "health psychology" was introduced by Matarazzo in 1980 to label

psychology - as a science and profession - in the fields of health and illness. According to this
author, it is an "aggregate of educational, scientific, and professional contributions of
psychological science to (1) the promotion and maintenance of health, (2) prevention and
treatment of disease, (3) identification of etiological and diagnostic correlates of health,
illness, and related psychological dysfunctions". Conceived in this way, health psychology
appears as an area of psychological intervention that (1) includes physical and mental health
and (2) transcends the field of medicine towards social, economic, and cultural factors related
to health and illness.

The focus is on the individual rather than the situation: health psychology is not directly
concerned with the context, which is within the medical domain, but rather with how the
individual lives and experiences their state of health or illness, in their relationship with
themselves, others, and the world.

Health psychology objectives are: (1) encouraging individuals to incorporate into their life
perspective a set of positive attitudes and responsible behaviors to promote their own health
and prevent disease; (2) reinforcing their psychological defenses while adapting to illness and
its potential outcomes so that active and participatory life is still possible; (3) raising
awareness, by informing healthcare professionals and social agents, about the psychological
aspects involved in promoting and maintaining health, preventing and treating diseases, and
their rehabilitation.

It’s useful to highlight the psychologists should take the initiative in the implementation of
programs related to public health, considering that an increasingly significant number of
people is seeking medical help for complaints or illnesses caused and/or aggravated by their
own behavior or the behavior of others (diabetes, certain respiratory diseases,sexually
transmitted diseases, among others). In these cases, inadequate dietary habits, alcohol or
tobacco abuse, refusal to adhere to health norms, and inability to cope with stress can be
important factors leading to illness and later may also be consequences of the illness itself.

Therefore, the future trajectory of health psychology could be focused on. (1) meeting social
needs; (2) paying attention to the development of medicine; (3) enhancing training in health
psychology.
Federica Loreto, student number: 32489 (erasmus).

References

Carvalho Teixeira, J. A. (1991, march). Psicologia da Saúde: Estado Actual e Perspectivas

Futuras. p. 149-151, p. 154.