Health_Psychology_Committee_Report

Health Psychology Committee Report By Shari Stephenson HCA 250 7/24/2011 According to the American Psychological Association, health psychologists “help patients manage chronic disease and avoid preventable diseases” by “incorporating psychological theory and research to develop methods to assist patients in maintaining healthy lifestyles”(Uyemura, B (2011.) Health psychology combines medicine and psychology to help a patient better cope with chronic pains and illnesses. Health psychologists are trained to help patients improve their quality of life while living with chronic pains or chronic health issues. Health psychologists work to prevent a wide range of health related issues such as obesity, boosting self-esteem, preventing anxiety and depression and trying to enhance the quality of life of individuals. Health psychologists treat a number of our veterans and soldiers who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, who need help adjusting to life after coming home from active duty, and suicide prevention. Health psychologists strive to treat patients without medications when possible. Teaching patients with chronic illnesses how to use relaxation techniques to help ease pains, stress and anxiety is just one of the many different treatment plans used by health psychologists. With the passing of the health care reform plan that mandates increased access to services provided by health psychologists, we have decided to add a psychiatry division that will employ five psychologists. As members of the Health Psychology Committee, we have been asked to assign duties to the health psychologists hired by the hospital to provide expert treatment and patient support in the new psychiatry division added to the hospital. With the addition of the psychiatry division, we hope to provide comprehensive therapy services to our patients who need help understanding their disease or illness. This new psychiatry division will also aid us in helping the family cope with the loved ones illness or disease. After much research on health psychology and conferring with other hospitals that have a successful psychiatry division, the Health Psychology Committee has put together a list of duties for the five health psychologists who will run the psychiatry division. The psychiatry division will employ a substance abuse counselor; inpatient-only psychologist; child psychologist; adult psychologist; and a rehabilitation psychologist. The substance abuse counselor helps people who have addictions to drugs and/or alcohol. The substance abuse counselor helps the addict overcome the need for drugs and alcohol through group and individual therapy. The substance abuse counselor also meets with the family of the addict to teach them how to support the family member after they become clean. They also help them cope with the addicts’ withdrawals and teach the family members signs to look for in case of a relapse. In a survey of thousands of students across the United States, high school seniors’ answers indicated that 78% had consumed an alcoholic drink at some time in their lives, 49% had had a drink in the last month, 50% had been drunk in the past year, and 29% had drunk five or more drinks in a row in the preceding 2 weeks (University of Phoenix, 2011.) The duties of the substance abuse counselor in the new psychiatry division will include collaborating with local schools in an effort to teach and warn children about the dangers of doing drugs and drinking alcohol. The substance abuse counselor will also preach to the children about the consequences involved when caught doing drugs and drinking underage. The second job duty appointed to the substance abuse counselor will be to coordinate the use of recovery programs and structured programs for substance abuse, in conjunction with a social worker. The substance abuse counselor will work closely with a social worker to create a recovery plan for both youth and adults who are recovering drug and alcohol addicts. Along with the recovery plan, the substance abuse counselor and the social worker will devise a structured plan for people who are on probation or parole for substance abuse. The inpatient-only psychologist at hospital inpatient facilities work with patients admitted to the hospital for inpatient stays. They assess and evaluate the mental health of these patients, provide counseling and participate in inpatient rotations (Pondent, Corr S., 2010.) Inpatient-only psychologists evaluate patients before treatments and procedures, and then reevaluate them after and as needed. The inpatient-only psychologist will also help patients adjust to a medical condition, the loss of a family member, loss of the patients’ independence, estrangement from their family or friends, and the prospect of dyeing because of a terminal illness. They are able to provide relaxation training, assertiveness training, and cognitive restructuring. The inpatient-only psychologist is also trained in pain management. The duties of the inpatient-only psychologist in the new psychiatry division will include diagnosing stress disorders and aid in stress-relief interventions and provide treatment for chronic pain. The inpatient-only psychologist will diagnose stress disorders and aid in stress-relief interventions by evaluating the patient based on signs and symptoms of stress related medical issues. The inpatient-only psychologist will provide relaxation training to reduce the stress and anxiety the patient is having. The second job duty will be to evaluate any pain relating to the patients stress and treat the pain as needed. A child psychologist is to provide rhyme and reason for children’s behavior and also to help their parents counteract feelings of depression malcontent and discontent towards those around them (Claridge, J, 2010.) A child psychologist may also help child cope with the loss of a parent, sibling, friend, or an extended family member. The child psychologist’s job duty include providing psychological preparation methods for children prior to medical procedures and utilizing various methods to facilitate adjustment and coping skills with patients suffering a chronic or terminal illness. Preparing a child for a treatment of procedure will help lessen the stress on the child and make the procedure or treatment more effective. Utilizing various methods to facilitate adjustment and coping skills with children suffering a chronic or terminal illness will help provide a better quality of life. A child psychologist helps a child cope with a chronic or terminal illness by explaining to the child what to expect with the illness and what types of procedures and treatments are associated with the illness. A child psychologist addresses any fears, anxieties, or questions the child might have. An adult psychologist performs all the same duties as a child psychologist except that the adult psychologist works closely with adults. An adult psychologist will also help an adult cope with the loss of a sibling, parent, friend, or an extended family member. The adult psychologist’s job duty include providing psychological preparation methods for adults prior to medical procedures and utilizing various methods to facilitate adjustment and coping skills with adults suffering a chronic or terminal illness. Preparing the patient for a treatment of procedure will help lessen the stress on the patient and make the procedure or treatment go more smoothly and be more effective. Addressing any questions or concerns the patient might have and providing mental and emotional support are methods used by the adult psychologist. Rehabilitation psychologists work with stroke and accident victims, people with mental retardation, and those with developmental disabilities caused by such conditions as cerebral palsy, epilepsy, and autism. They help clients adapt to their situation, frequently working with other health care professionals (UOP, 2011.) Rehabilitation psychologists are trained to help a person adjust to an illness or disease. They give advice on interpersonal relations and coping in the work world. Rehabilitation psychologists are also trained in pain management. Rehabilitation psychologists promote and participate in public health programs to prevent disabilities. Rehabilitation psychologists are also major contributors and supporters in programs that prevent disabilities especially those caused by violence and substance abuse. The job duties of the rehabilitation psychologists will include utilizing various methods to facilitate adjustment and coping skills with patients suffering a chronic or terminal illness and provide psychological preparation methods for adults prior to medical procedures and surgery. Helping a patient who has had a stroke, accident victims, people with mental retardation, and those with developmental disabilities caused by such conditions as cerebral palsy, epilepsy, and autism to understand a treatment or procedure that he or she is about to undergo is vital in assuring the patients well being during the treatment or procedure. A patient with these types of disabilities should have everything explained to them before it happens. This will help put the patient at ease during the treatment or procedure and make it go smooth and quick. Providing the patient with detailed information about their illness will help them better understand the illness or disease. The illness or disease should be explained to the patient even if the patient is disabled and may not understand or fully comprehend the seriousness of their illness. We have concluded that each of the five psychologists will provide our patients with the best care possible. Our team of psychologists will be effectively teaching the patients different relaxation techniques that will help relieve stress due to their illnesses, providing pain management, offering individual family, and group therapy, and many other great services. We believe that the addition of the new psychiatry division will benefit our patients by providing them and their families with outside support during their times of crisis, teaching them how to cope with illness and disease in the family, how to research their illnesses and diseases to better understand them, how to manage and avoid preventable diseases, enable adults and children with disabilities to understand treatments and procedures, and to prepare children and adults for treatments and procedures such as surgery, chemotherapy, skin grafts, and other related procedures. There is an overlapping in the services provided by the five psychologists but, we believe this could be beneficial to the patients because there would be more than one psychologist in the facility that could treat them if their appointed psychologist is out of the office. The clinical psychologist chosen could be of value in five main areas within a hospital - in research, teaching, consultation, and treatment, as well as in psychological assessment. These psychologists can be useful as consultants on psychological aspects of medicine, surgery, hospital practice, personnel management and therapeutic ward management (Aust. and N.Z. Journal of Psychiatry, 1971.) References * Uyemura, B. (2011). An Overview of Health Psychology. Psych Central. Retrieved on July 24, 2011, from http://psychcentral.com/lib/2011/an-overview-of-health-psychology/ * Pondent, C. (2010). Psychologist Duties for an Inpatient Facility. Retrieved on July 24, 2011 from http://www.ehow.com/list_6870675_psychologist-duties-inpatient-facility.html * Claridge, J, (2010). Child psychologist. Retrieved on July 24, 2011 http://www.workingwithkids.co.uk/child-psychologist.html * University of Portland, (2011). Psychology: Types of Psychologists. Retrieved on July 24, 2011 http://college.up.edu/sbs/psychology/default.aspx'cid=6075&pid=2203 * University of Phoenix, (2011). Substance Use and Abuse. Chapter 7 Pg. 182 Retrieved on July 24, 2011 from https://portal.phoenix.edu/classroom/coursematerials/hca_250/20110523/ * Aust. and N.Z. Journal of Psychiatry, (1971). THE CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST IN A GENERAL HOSPITAL p 237-240 Retrieved on July 24, 2011 from http://home.vicnet.net.au/~ozideas/DOWNLOADS%20pdfs%20for%20ozideas/psychgenhosp1971bw.pdf