Preface

This book aims to add knowledge to the field of health sciences and public health in particular. The focus is mainly on health psychology; namely the bio-psychosocial approach as a way to embrace health promotion, illness prevention, and health maintenance. The bio-psychosocial approach has contributed immensely to the field of health psychology. As a discipline, health psychology aims to examine how biological, psychological, and social factors influence people's behavior regarding their health status. The psychology of health is a specialty within the discipline of psychology concerned with individual behaviors and lifestyles affecting physical health. In the book by Sarafino (2008:11), the following goals of health psychology were presented:


The recognition of health psychology as a designated field is widely acknowledged. The relationship between mind and body and the effect of one upon the other has been widely debated amongst philosophers, psychologists, and physiologists. Central to the debate has been the question: **Why many people do not do what they know is in their best interest and why some people are more open to the adoption of healthy habits than others?** This is the key question that drives health psychologists to explore and influence lifestyles and behaviors that are conducive or detrimental to good health at the population level. This book is therefore in support of a consistent focus on the role of knowledge in informing people of the risks to themselves that certain behaviors can engender. I acknowledge the good work done by all the authors who contributed to this book. I hope that the readers, especially students, academics, researchers, and other professionals in Health Sciences and related fields, will learn the best practices as provided in the book. The specific chapters included in this book are as follows:


**Simon George Taukeni** University of Namibia, Namibia

**1**

**Chapter 1**

*Simon George Taukeni*

**1. Introduction**

**2. Definitions**

**2.2 Health psychology**

which has become widely accepted:

**2.1 Health**

Introductory Chapter:

Bio-Psychosocial Model of Health

Health psychology explores different ways in the pursuit of getting people to embrace health promotion, illness prevention and health maintenance. As a speciality, health psychology examines how biological, psychological and social factors influence people's behaviour about their health status. The aim of this chapter is to examine possible contributory connections between bio-psychosocial factors and health at the population level. The book explores bio-psychosocial model which can help individuals to develop and maintain healthy lifestyles so as to promote good health and prevent illness. Friedman and Adler [1] noted that the original bio-psychosocial model shaped not only research and theory on health but also the development of health psychology.

Kazarian and Evans [2] suggest that people commonly think about health in terms of an absence of (1) objective signs that the body is not functioning properly and (2) subjective symptoms of disease or injury, such as pain or nausea. World Health Organization defined health as 'a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity' (WHO, 1946 cited in [3]:4). Some health psychologists defined health as a positive state of physical, mental and social well-being not simply the absence of injury or disease that varies over time along a continuum [4]. At the wellness end of the continuum, health is the dominant state. At the other end of the continuum, the dominant state is illness or injury, in which destructive processes produce characteristic signs,

Health psychology is a speciality within the discipline of psychology concerned with individual behaviours and lifestyles affecting physical health. The discipline strives to enhance health, prevent and treat disease, identify risk factors and improve the healthcare system public opinion regarding health issues [5]. Matarazzo in 1980 (as cited in [3]:4) offered a definition of health psychology

*Health psychology is the aggregate of the specific educational, scientific and professional contributions of the discipline of psychology to the promotion and maintenance of health, the prevention and treatment of illness, the identification of*

symptoms or disabilities [4]. For further detail, see **Figure 1**.
