Health Psychology
Research in health psychology is dedicated in understanding the processes of health behaviour change and in understanding how this change can be better promoted and maintained.
The scientific research in the field is also focused on the identification and understanding of health-risk factors and health protective behaviours as well as on the investigation of the psychological impact of acute and chronic diseases on individuals. Research interventions often have the form of psychoeducation (seminars with research-based information about a health condition) and/or target at teaching patients of acute and chronic illness self-management and coping techniques, and examine the effects of the intervention at participants’ health, health behaviour and quality of life. Apostolia Alizioti, B.Sc. (Psychol), M.Sc. (Health Psychol), M.B.A., GBC member of the British Psychological Society.
Osteoarthritis (OA) is a degenerative joint disease that does not develop suddenly in elderly, as it is often believed.
Unforunately, younger people tend to believe that the early painful symptoms are due to day tiredness and thus arthritis very often remains undiagnosed and untreated for a long time. Prevention, improvement of healthy habits and identification of early symptoms are of crucial importance for the progress of the illness.
Adipose tissue (body fat) has been consistently related to increased production of the pro-inflammatory cytokines (interleukin) in OA (Nelson, 2012) and balanced diet has been associated with reduced inflammation in RA (Kjeldsen-Kragh & Haugen, 1991) and pain.
Chronic pain and pain intensity significantly influences the quality of life of patients with ALS and clinical attention to depressive symptomatology is highly recommended.It has been suggested that the influence of pain on patients’ quality of life remains only at the presence of depressive symptomatology.
For example, the findings of a pilot study suggest that the worsening of the Quality of Life (QOL) of patients with intense pain occurs only in the presence of depressive symptomatology and also that depression directly deteriorates the QOL of patients with ALS; an effect irrespective of pain intensity (Pizzimenti, Aragona, Onesti, & Inghilleri, 2013).
Multiple Sclerosis is a chronic illness characterised by sudden changes of symptoms and relapses; an unpredictability that triggers anxiety and depressive symptomatology and often elicit chronic sorrow and grief to patients.
Up to 50% of patients with MS are affected by depression and anxiety (Landro, Celius, & Sletvoid, 2004), whereas lifetime prevalence is estimated to be approximately 24% and 21.9% (Marrie et al., 2015), accordingly.
Unfortunately, it is estimated that depression is under-diagnosed in around 23%-30% of patients (Horwitz, Cutter, Tyry, Campagnolo, & Vollmer, 2009; McGuigan & Hutchinson, 2006).
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