Health Psychology Essay

Health psychology concerns itself with understanding behavior, biology and social context and their influences on illness and health. Health psychologists work with professionals in clinical areas and also conduct research as well as teach in universities. Health psychology aims at changing the health behavior of individuals to help them maintain optimum health and assist patients in adhering to treatment regimens. Adherence to medical regimens and shorter hospitalizations are indicators of effective health services. Health psychologists use cognitive behavior therapy and analysis of applied behavior to achieve this. Discussion The duty list is composed of activities that are aimed at improving the access of services to patients and also to improve the overall healthcare of patients. In assignment of duties to the various health professionals some health psychologists will receive more than one duty on the list. This is because of some of the duties which are closely related making it more reasonable for these duties to be carried out by one person. The list however has very many activities which if work load is considered makes it necessary to have a fifth job title. The fifth job title would be a communication skills counselor. The duties will then be allocated as follows, the substance abuse counselor will be responsible for coordinating the use of recovery programs and structured programs for substance. He/she will be working in conjunction with the social worker. The rationale behind this assignment is that the substance abuse counsellor is the person most appropriate for dealing with substance abusers in assisting them to get rehabilitated. The nature of substance abuse is such that it has social and psychological components to it so the collaboration between the substance abuse counsellor and the social worker is necessary. The patient load in substance abuse programs is high because of the intensive nature of behavioural change programs that are used, hence the substance abuse counsellor will only have this duty assigned to them. The inpatient-only psychologist will be assigned to the duty of providing treatment for chronic pain. The psychologist will be performing this duty only. This will be because of the large number of patients who have chronic pain. Managing these patients adequately means that the psychologist may not have enough time to attend to other duties. The child psychologist has two duties assigned to them. These are providing psychological preparation methods for children prior to medical procedures and collaboration with local schools. These are two duties which are closely related. By being involved with local schools the psychologist will already be familiar to the children making it easier for them to get children to cooperate when in the hospital. The adult psychologist will have the duty of providing psychological preparation methods for the adults prior to medical procedures and surgery. The workload for this psychologist is expected to be high since most of the patients are adults, hence the adult psychologist will only have this duty. The fifth job is that of communications counsellor, who will be carrying out duties of utilizing various methods to facilitate adjustment and coping skills amongst the patients. This psychologist will also have the role of diagnosing stress disorders and providing aid in stress relief interventions. The rationale behind this assignment is that the two duties are also closely related. The effect of poor adjustment to a condition and inability is often stress (Broome, Llewelyn and Llewelyn, 1994). Sometimes the relationship is vice versa, with high stress levels causing poor adjustment to one’s condition (Lyons and Chamberlain, 2006 ). The substance abuse counsellor will contribute to improved patient healthcare by provision of services geared towards behavior change that will enable the patient to be completely rehabilitated. The HBM (Health Behaviour Model) proposes that behavior change occurs when an individual perceives that the benefits of behavior change outweigh the costs or barriers that are associated with the behavior. (Friedman and Silver, ). The substance abuse counsellor will use such a model to predict the possibility of behavior change for the substance abuser. The usefulness of the HBM has been seen in its predictive value of whether individuals will adopt behavior such as safe-sex practices, breast self-examination and exercise (Friedman and Silver, ). The substance abuse counsellor will use cognitive behavioral therapy to educate substance abusers about the need to steer clear of drugs. Those with alcohol and other drug addiction problems will be helped to identify problems and behaviors that are related to their substance abuse. This will often be done in a group setting and occasionally on an individual basis (Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2008). Group settings are used mainly because many people feel encouraged by the fact that they are not alone in the addiction problem. Other activities that the substance counsellor will be involved in include assisting family members to cope with the addictions of their spouses, children or siblings. Since health psychology places emphasis on prevention of illness,the substance counsellor will have the responsibility of initiating, planning and conducting programs which are aimed at the prevention of addictions. This will help in the achievement of overall better health since it is often easier to prevent a condition rather than to cure it. The rehabilitation process for drug addicts has been known to be a difficult with many of them falling off the wagon. Thus a lot of time and patience is required, making prevention the better option. The emphasis on prevention is aimed at reducing the number of patients who will need to use substance abuse programs and also at reducing the rate of relapse. This contributes to decreased stay at the hospital. The child psychologist has a role of helping children to respond to the physician in a positive and cooperative manner at the time when a procedure is being done. This will involves the use of methods that allay the fears and anxieties of the child, such as providing distractions. The counsellor will also explain to a child who is old enough to understand the nature of the procedure they will undergo and what to expect in language that they can understand. The child counsellor will also have the responsibility of identifying cases of child abuse and other problems in the family that may hinder proper child development (Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2006). In addition, it is the role of the child psychologist to educate the parent(s) or the guardian of the child on the developmental milestones of the child and to encourage parents to bring their children to hospital if any of these milestones are missed. At the local school, the child psychologist will continue to observe children for any behavioral, social and personal problems. This will contribute to improvement in child health as it will result in early detection of problems and therefore early management and possibly shorter stays in hospital. The adult psychologist will be preparing adults psychologically for medication by telling the adult patient what to expect. Before surgery, the adult psychologist will visit the adult patient and discover what fears they may have. The adult psychologist can allay this by explaining the changes that the patient may expect following surgery or after a medical procedure. The adult psychologist can also communicate the patient’s worries and fears to the physician, surgeon and other health professionals directly involved in patient care. This will ensure that the medical professionals allay these fears and are conscious of them as they take care of the patient. This contributes to better healthcare because a less anxious patient is more cooperative and the patient is more likely to have greater adherence to their medication regimen. Management of chronic pain is a role which will include activities like administration of the McGill Pain Questionnaire to patients. This tool assists in description and measurement of pain (Marks, Murray, Evans et al, 2005). It provides a set of words describing pain from which the patient can choose from. These will assist the doctor to determine the intensity and depth of the pain that the patient feels. The McGill Pain Questionnaire makes diagnosis of pain easier and depending on the type diagnosed the appropriate medication can be prescribed, reducing the patient’s hospital stay. Another activity that the inpatient only psychologist will be involved in is confirming that a patient is safely using patient administered analgesia. This information can be elicited through conversations with the patient which will reveal their use of the analgesics that they have. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)and biofeedback are other techniques of treating pain amongst inpatients. CBT involves the use of distraction and relaxation techniques (Scott and Briere, 2006). The use of CBT where the patient is advised to note pain relieving and pain aggravating factors also help in the management of pain. These are useful in managing pain and when the inpatient psychologist has taught these successfully to the patient then it becomes easier for the patient to handle the pain and stick to their medication. The overall effect of these is a shortened hospital stay. The communications counsellor will have a role in educating physicians on the importance of maintaining patient-centered consultations. These consultations as opposed to doctor-centered consultations make the patient to feel as though they are part of the treatment process. The doctor- centered consultation is perhaps preferred by the elderly but is disliked by most people due to the sense of ignorance that it seems to inspire. A patient-centered consultation focusses on the needs of the patients and allows the doctor to listen to the patient, involve the patient and finally make a diagnosis and choose treatment. Health psychologists believe that treatment that is arrived at like this has a higher chance of being adhered to (Marks et al, 2005). The communications counsellor will therefore make this known to the medical professionals to enhance adherence to medication regimens. This is important as often the way a patient is handled by the medical professionals influences their adjustment to a condition they have especially when the condition is chronic. Adherence to medication is an indication that the patient is well adjusted and is coping well. Most patients who have suffered traumatic conditions or who have chronic conditions are predisposed to management of stress disorders. Development of a stress disorder in addition to their chronic condition makes their health even worse and increases their period of stay in hospital. The communications psychologist will identify these patients and plan for and implement interventions that will help to relieve their stress. Some of these interventions include CBT, which can be done individually or in a group. The communications psychologist may also introduce biofeedback. Biofeedback involves the measurement of the functions of a subject such as heart rate, blood pressure, skin temperature and muscle tension as well as sweat gland activity (Scott and Briere, 2006 ). Often when a patient stress levels are increased these parameters tend to increase. When measured and an increase is found, the patient’s awareness is raised and the patient then can consciously begin to control the unconscious physiological activities. Adherence to this practice can help patients avoid thoughts and feelings which increase their stress. The communication psychologist will also encourage the patients to verbalize their feelings of anxiety and stress and what they think are the sources of the stress. She/he will then explore with them the things that they can engage in to help take away their stress. These include physical activities, board games, conversations with other patients. Some stress issues may be related to the family especially where a mother is sick. She may worry about the care of her household and children. To assist this mother, the communications psychologist may need to help the mother work out a plan for care of her household with other family members. Once the stressors have been identified and done away with the patient is more likely to heal faster and be more committed to their treatment regime. The role of the communications psychologist is very important in detecting patients who may go into depression as a result of stress associated with their conditions. Conclusion Some of the jobs of the health psychologists may seem to overlap. These include the jobs of the inpatient psychologist and the communications psychologist since both seem to be dealing with chronically ill patients. They also seem to have a similar objective in that they want to ensure that the patient adheres to their treatment regimen. There are similarities between both jobs, but the focus of the inpatient psychologist is the patient who requires pain management. Overlap is reduced by the fact that should the patient develop stress as a result of poor pain management then they can be referred to the communication psychologist. The communication psychologist will then go on to identify the stressor and put in place appropriate interventions. The overlap is not an entirely bad thing as it will result in some of the workload being shared among the psychologists since there is likelihood of patients being more in one psychologist’s speciality. The health psychologists described above will all be working towards improving the care of their patients. Most of the interventions that they will put in place will lead to either decreased hospital stay or greater adherence to medication. This effectively results in improved health among the patients.

Competitive Sports Beneficial Essay

Is putting a child into a competitive sport beneficial for them? Some people believe competitive sports to have a negative impact on children. It’s hard on their bodies, they tend to put sports before education, and it puts a great deal of pressure on the child to win and if not it can lower the child’s self-esteem. Yes, like everything in life, it has its negatives, but its positives outweigh its negatives by a numerous amount. Competitive sports help children not only physically but mentally and emotionally. Sports can have a great impact on a child’s life and can help them grow not only as an athlete, but as a person. Growing up playing sports you meet many new and different people, which helps you learn how to adapt and get to know new people more quickly. Playing competitive sports, you meet people with the same interests and you can develop long lasting friendships. Children learn to participate as a team not just as an individual; this will be needed throughout someone’s life through jobs, relationships, and much more. Character and integrity are associated with competitive sports. These two characteristics are not built through competitive sports, but are revealed in a competition. The hope is that you learn to do the right thing and make the right choices, which is character and integrity at its finest. â€Å"Competitive athletes are consistently involved in situations where they are challenged. This not only occurs on the competitive field of play but in the practice gym as well. When this happens, their level of perseverance and determination will be tested. The hope is that they become stronger within over time† (Mango). They also learn discipline, how to set goals and how to achieve those goals. â€Å"Kids involved in sports are less likes to take drugs or smoke because they realize the impacts that these destructive activities can have upon their performance. Girls who play sports are also less likely to become pregnant† (McEntire). Some parents believe it is too much too soon, and that there is a misplaced emphasis on the â€Å"wrong† things such as winning at all costs. Children mature at different ages and may or may not be ready to play in a healthy competition. Competitive sports typically require strategic planning and other more complex cognitive abilities however, they don’t perform as well under the pressures of competition until they are closer to twelve† (Ray). The child has to learn how to lose gracefully and often the costs of the lesson outweighs the types of lessons learned, especially when children are placed under too much stress to win. In addition, children may not be physically ready for the demands of training and hard play. Repetitive motion injuries, muscle injuries and accidents can be detrimental to children’s developing bodies. According to Linda Ray’s article, â€Å"Should Children Play Competitive Sports† the key to successful competitive play for children depends on a healthy balance of parental involvement, social and team pressure, physical conditioning and time. With these combinations and good coaches it is extremely beneficial for children to play competitive sports.

Ratio annlysis

Current ratio is always larger than quick ratio, it may because that inventory is overstated. Inventory turnover ratio has a relatively slight rise , it also can be an indicator for the overstated inventory.As per the current ratio, overstating inventory allows Santa to avoid booking expenses and reduces the cost of goods sold. It could also indicate obsolete stock problems. Ratio Explanation Account Key assertion The change in current ratio compared with the previous year, supports the idea that inventory could be overstated. As a decrease in inventory lead to a decrease in gross margin, the auditor would be concerned that inventory is overstated.Inventory Existence Overstating inventory allows Santa to avoid booking an expense now and also rates a larger asset base. By overstating inventory. Management can reduce the cost of good sale. In order to overstate inventory, management may book sales for inventory that does not exist or miscalculate costs . Days in inventory The increase in days in inventory inventory Existence and valuation As per the current ratio, overstating allows management to avoid booking expenses and reduces the cost of goods sold, it could also indicate obsolete stock problems.

Beliefs in the sanctity of life Essay

Explain how beliefs in sanctity of life may influence ethical approaches to abortion This issue involves the principles associated with abortion and involves the consideration of the act of killing and the ethical questions that this raises. The belief that life is in some way sacred or holy is widely supported throughout several different cultures and religions, and is traditionally understood as being given by God. Believers in the Sanctity of Life take a deontological position in which love and compassion for all human life has a significant role in their everyday lives. The sanctity of life argument is often put forward from a Christian viewpoint, and is also supported in the Roman Catholic Church. The Church of England also combines opposition to abortion with recognition that there can be â€Å"strictly limited† conditions in which it is morally acceptable to carry out an abortion. Members of this Church share the Roman Catholic view that abortion is â€Å"gravely contr ary to the moral law†, suggesting that life is precious and reinforcing their belief in the sanctity of life. The Church says that human life begins when the woman’s egg is fertilised by a male sperm. From that moment a unique life begins, independent of the life of the mother and father. The features that distinguish us from our parents – the colour of our eyes, the shape of our face – are all laid down in the genetic code that comes into existence then. Each new life that begins at this point is not a potential human being but a human being with potential, therefore abortion is wrong, because life is precious and created in God’s image. Kant gives the idea of the sanctity of life a non-religious perspective based on ethical grounds. He considers each human life sacred, and said that everyone has potential to have a good life, therefore against abortion as he believes life starts from conception. Abortion cannot be justified in Kantian ethics if it simply concerns itself because the foetus has intrinsic value based upon the principle of the sanctity of life. However Singer argues from both sides, and says â€Å"To kill a human adult is murder, and is unhesitatingly and universally condemned. Yet there is no obvious sharp line which marks the zygote from the adult. Hence the problem.† By recognising the problem of abortion and when a foetus becomes a person, in which killing it is punishable, Singer considers the social moral grounds of killing and the ethical questions it raises. Therefore by not coming to a full conclusion, we see that not all people have an absolute view on the sanctity  of life in relation to abortion. Some relativists say that they are neither pro-life nor pro-choice, and it depends entirely on the circumstance. For example, if giving birth to a baby would put the mother’s life at risk, then an abortion would be acceptable because it could be argued that a foetus is not a person and that the sanctity of the mother’s life is greater than the foetus’, meaning that they may interpret the terms ‘life’ and ‘unborn’ differently. Whilst looking at these two interpretations, the sanctity of different stages of life are brought into consideration.

Investigate and analyse the financial system of South Korea, Its level Essay

Investigate and analyse the financial system of South Korea, Its level of development,The efficiency of its financial markets,an - Essay Example South Korea established a central bank in 1950 that was given the mandate of regulating all the other banks in the country, printing and circulation of the currency in South Korea as well as making laws and regulations that would govern other financial institutions in the country. The minor banks in South Korea had a function of extending credit services to businesses and other medium and long term investment projects (pg 48). Today, the financial system of South Korea has grown and continues to improve remarkably over the years. South Korea is located in the north-eastern Asia and it is bordered by the Yellow sea to the west and Democratic Republic of Korea to the north. South Korea has four distinct seasons and in 2011, the population was estimated to be 48.75 million people with the annual growth rate in population estimated to be 0.23%. South Korea is characterized by low birth rate and high life expectancy at an average of 82 years for women and 75 years for men but the literacy levels are high with compulsory schooling for the first 9 years. This has greatly been affecting the economy of South Korea because most of the population is made up of the old people. The major religions in South Korea are Christianity, Buddhhism, Shamanism, Confucianism and Chondogyo. Politically, South Korea has a well organized government by the president, the parliament and the judiciary. Power was well laid out in the constitution that was appealed in 1987 (Kim & Black, 2004). South Korea has had a well performing investment sector especially in agriculture and other medium and long-term investments. This sector has been an integral part of the economy of South Korea and the banks even offered loans that would be channeled towards these businesses. They contributed to the growth of South Korea’s GDP that has improved though it had staggered for some time due to hard economic times that South Korea went through for some time (Lau, 1996). The depository sector of the fin ancial system has also been improved over the years where unlike the times when banks were solely owned by the government, the people have been allowed the freedom to have shares in the banking sector and the banks have started offering depository services for their customers (Lee, 2004). This has strengthened the financial system of South Korea and has ensured that there is constant growth in the sector. In the recent years, South Korea’s financial system moved from the government ownership to more widespread powers where people were allowed to participate directly through the purchase of shares. This was contributed to by the increases reforms and strategies that were geared towards attainment of stability in the financial markets. Over the past 10 years, The GDP of South Korea has experience fluctuations in GDP with a 9% growth in 2009 and 6.1% being recorded in 2010. This was due to changes in economic situations globally and changes in the level of exports in the country over the years. South Korea’s financial system has improved significantly and it has even gone ahead to sign business agreements with North Korea that are aimed at improving the exports in the country hence ensuring the country a growth in the GDP and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) (Zahid,1995). The growth of the financial institutions in South Korea have been so much affected by the aging population, strict labor laws, poor management of the institutions, underdevelopment of the

Issue of medicalization, the social construction of difference through Essay

Issue of medicalization, the social construction of difference through science and medicine and power - Essay Example Several differences are medicalized. Due to scientific conquest and development of new knowledge, several aspects of society are affected. With this, what are aspects are medicalized in the first place? The most affected in this case are the cultural beliefs and value systems that are embedded in an individual. Since there is cultural diversity, it is really problematic to impose a certain a cultural ideology towards a certain group of people that have a different cultural grassroots. There should be a thorough understanding of the culture from both sides of the spectrum. However, in the case of Lia, from the work of Anna Fadiman entitled The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, the doctors of Merced Community Medical Center have not taken into consideration the spiritual culture of the Hmong people about childbirth. In her work, there is a quote that deals about the frustration of the parent due to cultural indifference. â€Å"It took all the autonomy of being a parent away, even for folks who have had a lot of medical experience. It would be that much harder if you were from another culture and didn’t understand the purpose of these things.† (Fadiman, 1997) This quote manifests the clear problem about medicalization. Modern medical science and its practitioners have the tendency to bypass the concern of the people they are dealing with since they always exercise their expertise. Even if the concerns are valid for the Hmong people because of their culture, the medical professionals did not comply and understood the necessity of such cultural practices for the Hmong. Cultural Indifference has indeed occurred and has yielded several detrimental effects. On the second level, what seems to be the theoretical framework used by the authors to discuss the issue of medicalization? In the essay entitled Of Gender and Genitals: Use and Abuse of Modern Intersexual from the book Sexing

Comparison between the classic lectures and the small group discussion Essay

Comparison between the classic lectures and the small group discussion for fifth -six th year students -college of medicine,Taif - Essay Example One of the recent developments found in the identification of different modes of teaching is the small group discussion technique. It has been put to practical use and has been providing some radical changes about the perspective that students had about teaching. However, there are certain dark areas about this method of teaching that are still needed to be put as questions to extract measurable answers. In order to identify whether this new approach will provide results in the long run, an analysis survey among the students is planned to take place. Based on the survey results, a decision could be brought out on whether this new method could eventually and completely replace the classic approach. This paper aims at determining those survey questions that are to be asked to the students of the Taif University. A general survey methodology which involves a comparison of two methods needs to identify pros and cons of each method and provide an accumulative result to the surveyor. Later , the surveyor could weigh the accumulated results of both the methods and can provide the results that either state which method is better or propose changes that could improve the aspects of the second coming method. Hence, it is critically important to determine the questions to be asked in the survey. The nature of the questions should be practical, argumentative and direct to the point. (Fowler 1995) Questions related with Classical Lecture method Classical Lecture Method has its advantages and disadvantages. Advantages Lecture method allows for a direct and logical interpretation of the facts and procedures. They provide an opportunity for the students to directly understand the concepts and techniques that are proven over the years. (Monroe 1915) Lecture method allows students to experience the concepts as and when they hear about it, through the speech of the lecturer. It allows them to easily grasp the concepts which they would have had a hard time to understand. Lecture me thod gives an equal opportunity for all of the students to get to know about the information that is explained. As far as this method goes, all students get equal information, provided if they all are attentive.(Hghert 1981) The ability of the lecturer plays a bigger part. Analysis, comparison and examples related to the lecture topic always enhance the studying interest of the listener. In addition, with the presence of a lecturer, there is always a guiding force for the students to look forward.(Lieberman 2004) Disadvantages The ability of the lecturer could act as a disadvantage too. If the lecturer does not have good oral communication skills, then he or she may falter in sending the right message to the listeners. Most often, there is no direct involvement of the listeners in any lecture, unless requested. This often creates a passive environment and many a times the lecturers’ fail to recognize whether the listeners are mentally involved in the session or not. (Donald 2 000) Because communication in these lectures is most often in one way mode, there is high percentage of difficulty that could arise in understanding tedious subjects, irrespective of the number of virtual presentations that the lecturers could provide. (Bassey 1968) Another problem that could arise is that all listeners cannot cope up with the pace of the lecturer and understand at the same speed. Some may be slow in understanding the concepts whereas