...Psychology of Health in the Workplace Kristin Haimowitz HCA/250 January 22, 2012 Wakita R. Bradford Psychology of Health in the Workplace A good attitude can go a long way in making the place where you work a more tolerable place to be. Having a healthy lifestyle can make it easier to deal with the smaller problems that seem to happen on a day to day basis. Health psychology is concerned with understanding how biological, psychological, environmental, and cultural factors are involved in physical health and the prevention of illness. Due to recent advances in psychological, medical, and physiological research, it had lead to new ways of thinking about health and illness. This conceptualization, which has been labeled the biopsychosocial model, views health and illness as the product of a combination of factors including biological characteristics (e.g., genetic predisposition), behavioral factors (e.g., lifestyle, stress, health beliefs, and social conditions (e.g., cultural influences, family relationships, social support) (Marks, 2011). People have developed a field of health psychology that helps people deal with stressors that they are involved with at their workplace. Many experts perform research to help them solidify their findings. Occupational Health Psychology (OHP) has developed from these studies, and does research so that they can better understand the needs of people in their work settings. Also, OHP looks to understand how psychosocial characteristics...
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...Psychology of Health in the Workplace Elaina Tanner HCA/250 7/8/12 University of Phoenix Psychology of Health in the Workplace The relationship of health and psychology can be complex. Health is a positive state of physical, mental, and social well-being. Psychology is the way you deal with life, or situations that you come across. If you have a positive attitude and a positive state of mind you may be healthier and feel better. Your state of mind can affect your health greatly. If you are always in a bad mood you can cause your body to be unhealthy because of stress and just a bad attitude in general. Stress can cause a lot of health problems such as obesity, migraines, cardiovascular problems, stroke, and depression. Some people that get stressed can choose unhealthy ways of dealing with it such as smoking or eating fatty or unhealthy foods. Smoking can cause cancer, heart disease, and stroke. It can also lead to respiratory disorder that cannot be reversed. Eating fatty foods and unhealthy foods can lead to obesity, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and cardiovascular disease. Good ways of dealing with stress are walking, working out, yoga, reading, getting a massage, and talking or writing about it. Doing all of this can reduce your stress along with your blood pressure. They can also put you into a better state of mental, physical and social state. Stress is a common issue in the workplace. In the workplace a person runs in the large workloads and not enough...
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...There are many doctors that would agree that there is a connection between physical health and psychological health. When you are getting stressed out over your job because you may be overworked or there are financial problems within your family. All of this could cause you to have some form of physical reaction. We are going to look at how these two things if they are really connected with one another. Physical Health and Psychology Your physical health can be affected by all of the things that you are doing, by the way that we gather and process information, your career choices that you make, family, troubles as also the environment in which you live in. It is to be believed that illness and wellness both exist on a continuum. Like for an example if we know someone who may be feeling fine and their liver is getting damaged from all of the drinking that they have been doing for many years. We wouldn’t say that they are dying or sick. What we would probably stay that they are less healthy than they would be if they wasn’t doing the unhealthy thing. Medical sociologist Aaron Antonovsky (1979, 1987) has suggested that we consider these concepts as ends of a continuum, noting that ‘‘We are all terminal cases. And we all are, so long as there is a breath of life in us, in some measure healthy’’ (1987,p. 3). There are times when you may feel sick, tired, or just run down. This doesn’t always have to be a response from a virus or even bacteria that has invaded the body. It could...
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...Psychology of Health in the Workplace The relationship between health and psychology has become more established in recent years. Past and continuing studies, and research, is providing insight into how an individual’s entire feeling of well being should be considered when trying to balance or maintain the status of their overall health. They are discovering that many biological, mental, and environmental factors can all work together to add to people’s health issues. Finding the correct balance of treatment choices is now including other alternative influences and circumstances as possible elements that may be adding to the causes of physical health issues. An example of a specific lifestyle choice that can affect health and psychology in the workplace is poor eating habits. For an individual who may choose to skip breakfast in the morning, he or she can become irritable, have a difficult time concentrating, or develop physical symptoms such as dizziness, nausea, or headache. Irritability can lead to poor communication with co-workers and loss of production on everyone’s schedule. Loss of energy from low blood sugar may lead to feeling tired and unable to concentrate which again can lead to misunderstandings and poor communication in order to resolve work related issues. One poor choice can develop problems for a person that can last the entire day, or possibly ruin relationships at work, especially if this poor choice is made continually. A person, who repeatedly...
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...Psychology of Health in the Workplace Psychology of Health in the Workplace Kristin Haimowitz HCA/250 January 22, 2012 Wakita R. Bradford Psychology of Health in the Workplace A good attitude can go a long way in making the place where you work a more tolerable place to be. Having a healthy lifestyle can make it easier to deal with the smaller problems that seem to happen on a day to day basis. Health psychology is concerned with understanding how biological, psychological, environmental, and cultural factors are involved in physical health and the prevention of illness. Due to recent advances in psychological, medical, and physiological research, it had lead to new ways of thinking about health and illness. This conceptualization, which has been labeled the biopsychosocial model, views health and illness as the product of a combination of factors including biological characteristics (e.g., genetic predisposition), behavioral factors (e.g., lifestyle, stress, health beliefs, and social conditions (e.g., cultural influences, family relationships, social support) (Marks, 2011). People have developed a field of health psychology that helps people deal with stressors that they are involved with at their workplace. Many experts perform research to help them solidify their findings. Occupational Health Psychology (OHP) has developed from these studies, and does research so that they can better understand the needs of people in their work settings. Also, OHP...
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...Health is “the ability of a system (a cell, organism, family, society) to respond adaptively to a wide variety of environmental challenges (physical, chemical, infectious, psychological, social)' (Brody and Sobel, 1980: 168-69). The relationship between health and psychology has become more focused in the 20th century. It has been considered as far back as ancient Greece, but has taken root heavily in the 20th century. Health and psychology has the meaning that our mind and bodies interact with each other. If we are overly stressed then we may likely see physical health effects such as higher blood pressure, increased heart rate, etc. When we keep a positive balance between our physical health and our mental health, then we are working on the close relationship of health and psychology. We can directly affect our health by our lifestyles. By this I mean if we choose to smoke cigarettes, drink alcohol, consume to much caffeine, or be overweight. Since these lifestyle choices affect us physically and mentally many workplaces offer wellness programs to help aide in the education of health and psychology. When an employer makes the choice to provide wellness programs for their employees both the employer and the employee benefits. The employer benefits if they provide medical insurance to the employee in the possibility of lowering their health insurance cost. The healthier lifestyle the employee lives the less cost in time loss from work, or possibilities for workplace injuries...
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... Psychology of Health in the Workplace Paper Health and Psychology are overlapping concepts that describe the well-being and mental influences that motivate to respond to their health psychologically and physically. Health can be explained as optimal wellness or type of illness (Sarafino, 2011). In other words, health is whether someone is experiencing symptoms or simply how their current state of their body. This essay will take a look at the interrelatedness of health and psychology, health in the workforce, and lifestyle choices that can be done to deter illness and chronic diseases. Psychology and Health relationship Psychology and health provides a reasoning that an individual personality and mental process influence their health (Sarafino, 2011). For instance, health might be pre-determines biologically such as genetics and DNA. Psychological factors such as negative emotions, conscientiousness, anxiety, stress, hostility, and pessimism may impact an individual health. For example, an individual may become depress and utilize high-fat foods to deal with depression, which in turns contributes to obesity and weight gain. Another aspect on how health and psychology relationship combines is through behaviorism to impact health positively. Few examples of the goals through behaviorism, for health and psychology is motivating health and wellness, averting illnesses, classifying the causes of illnesses and dysfunctions, and improving health policies...
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...Psychology of Health in the Workplace Psychology of Health in the Workplace To understand the relationship between psychology and health we must first understand what each term means. Psychology can be defined as the science or study of the mind and behavior. (“Webster, 2014) And according to “Webster” (2014) health can be defined as “the overall condition of someone’s body or mind. So how do these two relate? I believe the mind is a very powerful tool and can have a major effect on the body and how one feels. When researched the definition of “health psychology I found this definition, “Health psychology is a specialty area that focuses on how biology, behavior and social factors influence health and illness. (About Education”, 2014) This idea was very interesting to me, the fact that contagious and hereditary illnesses are not the only factors to our overall health. We now have to take into consideration our behavior, lifestyle choices, our surroundings and our mind when thinking about staying healthy. So what are some types of behavior or lifestyle choices that are bad for you? This may seem like a no brainer, but hygiene is a very important habit to create. Washing hands, body and brushing teeth daily help to fight off infectious diseases and help to keep the body strong and healthy. This is especially important when outside the home. At work, at the grocery store or even just pumping gas, germs are all around you. Washing your hands routinely is your best defense against...
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...Psychology of Health in the Workplace Sarah Calame HCA 250 January 22, 2011 Wakita R. Bradford Psychology of Health in the Workplace A good attitude can go quite far in making the workplace a more tolerable place to be. What’s more, having a healthy lifestyle can make it easier to deal with the smaller nuisances that seem to pop up daily. Health psychology is concerned with understanding how biological, psychological, environmental, and cultural factors are involved in physical health and the prevention of illness. Recent advances in psychological, medical, and physiological research have led to a new way of thinking about health and illness. A person’s home life may actually carry over to their performance at work, leading to poor performance and bad reviews. The choices we make and the way we treat our bodies not only affects our personal health but also our mental health. Health concerns can be carried over to the workplace causing unwanted stress in an environment that is already somewhat stressful. With the daily tasks that our jobs require of us added stress can make the job that much more difficult. Lack of sleep making it hard to concentrate on the talks at hand, irritated with other employees, and just plain unable to do what is required of us. An unhealthy diet can make us sick and unable to complete the job needing done and mental stress on top of a possibly already stressful job can cause even more health problems physically. Employees may find themselves...
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...Psychology of Health in the Workplace Tracey S. Thompson HCA/250 August 16,20015 Joanne Puia Psychology of Health in the Workplace Health and psychology by some might be intertwined as one and the same; were as others health and psychology are two separate entities in ones life. A person’s physical health can depend on many different factors for example eating habits, gender, family history and dynamics, stress, type of career and what type of environment one lives in. An example of a specific lifestyle choice that can affect health and psychology in the workplace is poor eating habits. For a person who chooses to skip breakfast in the morning, they can become irritable and a difficult time focusing, they may develop physical symptoms such as dizziness, nausea, or headache. This can lead to poor communication with co-workers and loss of production on everyone’s schedule. Loss of energy from low blood sugar may lead to feeling sluggish and unable to focused on the task at hand, which again can lead to misunderstandings, and poor communication in order to resolve work related issues. One poor choice can cause problems for that person and the whole staff in general which can last the entire day, or possibly ruin relationships at work, especially if this poor choice is made continually. A person, who repeatedly demonstrates this type of behavior constantly, may be shocked to hear how others in their work or social environment perceive them. The fact is that making...
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...Psychology of Health in the Workplace Gina Tucker HCA/225 Jerrica Ampadu October 2015 Psychology of Health in the Workplace Gina Tucker HCA/225 Jerrica Ampadu October 2015 There are many studies that demonstrate that your brain and your body are unequivocally connected. As your psychological wellness decays, your physical well-being can wear out, and if your physical well-being decreases, it can make you feel "down." An uplifting standpoint can keep you solid. The mental anxiety that originates from excessive work, family troubles or money problems can show itself in a physical way. It is trusted that well-being and sickness exist on the same level. As opposed to being either in good health or sick, people progress along a sequence from being healthy to sickness and back once more. From the way the mind and body are maintained, displays that that both work with each other. It sees mental components as not just conceivable outcomes of disease (all things considered, being sick can be discouraging), yet as adding to every one of the phases of well-being, from being healthy to sickness. Did you know that a healthy or unhealthy way of life can be just as critical in your psychological wellness and feeling of prosperity? Exercise, nourishment, eating regimen, time outdoors, connections and family life, diversions, unwinding are immeasurably imperative parts of a solid way of life. All of these lifestyle choices have an affect on health and psychology in the workplace...
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...Biopsychology: Biopsychology is a field of psychology that analyzes how the brain and neurotransmitters influence our behaviors, thoughts and feelings. This field can be thought of as a combination of basic psychology and neuroscience. Clinical Psychology: Clinical psychology is the branch of psychology concerned with the assessment and treatment of mental illness, abnormal behavior and psychiatric problems. Cognitive Psychology: Cognitive psychology is the branch of psychology that studies mental processes including how people think, perceive, remember and learn. As part of the larger field of cognitive science, this branch of psychology is related to other disciplines including neuroscience, philosophy, and linguistics. Comparative Psychology: Comparative psychology is the branch of psychology concerned with the study of animal behavior. Modern research on animal behavior began with the work of Charles Darwin and Georges Romanes and has continued to grow into a multidisciplinary subject. Today, biologists, psychologists, anthropologists, ecologists, geneticists and many others contribute to the study of animal behavior. Counseling Psychology: Counseling psychology focuses on providing therapeutic treatments to clients who experience a wide variety of symptoms. It is also one of the largest specialty areas within psychology. The Society of Counseling Psychology describes the field as " a psychological specialty [that] facilitates personal and interpersonal...
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...Industrial/Organizational Psychology Worksheet The purpose of this assignment is to examine the fundamental concepts of the field of industrial/organizational psychology. Using the textbook, the University Library, the Internet, and/or other resources, answer the following questions. Your responses to each question will vary but overall should be 700- to 1,050-words in length. Describe the evolution of the field of industrial/organizational psychology? The field of industrial/organizational psychology has been around since the late 1800's early 1900's and is rapidly growing. In the beginning, the first psychologists to practice industrial/organizational psychology was experimental psychologists ( ). Originally starting in the United Kingdom with the focus on employee health and level of fatigue. When industrial/organizational psychology was founded in the United States it was by American Psychologists Hugo Munsterberg and Walter Dill Scott. The field of industrial/organizational psychology went through a series of major events, all occurring in the United States. Another key figure was Frederick Taylor, who pioneered Scientific Mangagement; his approach on handling production workers in factories. It was Taylor who believed that there was four key factors or guidelines for all employees, across the board. It is the husband and wife team of Lilian & Frank Gilbreth who are credited as the first to receive a Industrial/Organizational Psychology degree. Most credit Bruce...
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...The role of gender in workplace stress: A critical literature review Kristina 1 Gyllensten and Stephen 2 Palmer Abstract Objective The aim of this review was to evaluate research relating to the role of gender in the level of workplace stress. A further aim was to review literature relating to stressors of particular relevance to working women. These stressors included, multiple roles, lack of career progress and discrimination and stereotyping. Design Systematic review. Method Major databases were searched in order to identify studies investigating gender and workplace stress. A range of research designs included and no restrictions were made on the basis of the occupations of the participants. Results Much of the research indicated that women reported higher levels of stress compared to men. However, several studies reported no difference between the genders. Furthermore, the evidence for the adverse effects of multiple roles, lack of career progress and discrimination and were stereotyping was inconsistent. Conclusion The current review concluded that the evidence regarding the role of gender in workplace stress and stressors was inconsistent. Limitations of the research were highlighted and implications for practice were discussed. Key words: workplace stress, gender, stressors Introduction Workplace stress Stress in the workplace is a major problem for both organisations and employees, and it has been estimated that approximately 13.4...
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...Psychology of Health in the Workplace Melissa Gregg HCA/250 August 10, 2014 Psychology of Health in the Workplace Health and psychology, what links the two? Before anyone can answer that question, you should understand there meanings individually. Let’s start off with the meaning of health. Without an excessive amount of thought or research one would in all probability define health as how an individual feels or not being physically injured. Somewhat true, however there is so much more than the physical. Within our text reading, health is defined as a ‘positive state of physical, mental, and social well-being.’ Some can appear to be healthy as a result of their physical presences, yet suffer from a mental illness. They could also be also physically and mentally healthy however but they suffer socially. Psychology defined in the encyclopedia as, the study of the mind based primarily on how one acts or behaves. The mind is what connects the health and psychology. Patients who are suffering from this conversion disorder can have symptoms such as| blindness or paralysis, however, they do not have any neurological causes of from this, having concerns which is psychological can have a huge negative effects to a person’s health. If an individual fears going to the doctor they are less likely to go and get regular check-ups. Failing to go to check-ups can leave numbers of unknown conditions from getting treated causing serious...
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