As the number of people of color rapidly grows within the US population, health providers in these communities have become increasingly aware of the need to address the concerns and problems particular to each group. It's also become clear that as the delivery of our health care systems evolve, a new approach must be summoned to build systems both cost-effective and socially responsible. Community Health Psychology offers a new and different perspective for redressing the gaps in our systems of care. The authors contend that in order to begin an attempt at eradicating the more intractable societal problems, health providers need to tailor themselves to a more culturally competent approach, which addresses all members of a community they claim to serve.
Mental health practices and programs around the world face growing criticism from policymakers, consumers, and service providers for being ineffective, overly reliant on treatment by professionals, and overly focused on symptoms. Many have called for new paradigms of mental health and new practices that can better support recovery, community integration, and adaptive functioning for persons diagnosed with psychiatric disabilities. While there has recently been much discourse about transformation and recovery, there has yet to be a critical and systematic review that unpacks the concept of mental health systems transformation or that examines strategies for how to create transformative change in mental health. Community Psychology and Community Mental Health provides empirical justification and a conceptual foundation for transformative change in mental health, based on community psychology values and principles of ecology, collaboration, empowerment, and social justice. Chapters provide strategies for making changes at the level of society, policy, organizations, community settings, and mental health practices. The editors and authors draw from experience in different countries in recognition of the need to tailor change strategies to different contexts. The common experiences of the international perspectives represented underscore the importance and the need for a new paradigm while demonstrating that there are many alternatives and opportunities for pursuing transformative change. This book will be of interest to community mental health professionals, researchers, and students, as well as policymakers, administrators, and those with lived experience of mental health issues.
This comprehensive handbook, the first in its field, brings together 106 different contributors. The 38 interrelated but at the same time independent chapters discuss key areas including conceptual frameworks; empirically grounded constructs; intervention strategies and tactics; social systems; designs, assessment, and analysis; cross-cutting professional issues; and contemporary intersections with related fields such as violence prevention and HIV/AIDS.
Drawing upon the wisdom of experts in the field, this reader-friendly volume explores both foundational competencies and the technical how-to skills needed for engaging in community psychology practice. Each chapter explores a core competency and its application in preventing or amending community problems and issues. With case examples throughout, this text offers a practical introduction to community outreach and intervention in community psychology.
In this book the authors present additional personal and community narratives and extended examples to enliven their writing. They have also expanded their coverage of social policy research and advocacy, interdisciplinary perspectives on communities (e.g. the concept of social capital), and interventions to enhance neighborhood and community life. They portray community psychology as now more international, more attentive to human diversity, and more attuned to the nuances of social and cultural contexts than ever before. They provide narratives illustrating how ordinary citizens working together have transformed their communities and engaged in social change.
The Health Psychology Reader is designed to complement and support the recent textbook Health Psychology: Theory, Research and Practice by David F. Marks, Michael Murray, Brian Evans and Carla Willig (SAGE, 2000). It can also be used as a stand-alone resource given its didactic nature. The Reader explores key topics within the health psychology field with incisive introductions to each section by the Editor and includes a selection of the most important theoretical and empirical published work.
Community Psychology, 5/e focuses on the prevention of problems, the promotion of well-being, empowerment of members within a community, the appreciation of diversity, and an ecological model for the understanding of human behavior. Attention is paid to both “classic” early writings and the most recent journal articles and reviews by today’s practitioners and researchers. Historical and alternative methods of effecting social change are explored in this book, with the overall theme that the environment is as important as the individual in it. This text is available in a variety of formats – digital and print. Learning Goals Upon completing this book, readers will be able to: Understand the historical and contemporary principles of community psychology. Apply theory and research to social services, mental health, health, legal, and public health systems
British Psychology Society Textbook of the Year 2020 Why do people who are more socially connected live longer and have better health than those who are socially isolated? Why are social ties at least as good for your health as not smoking, having a good diet, and taking regular exercise? Why is treatment more effective when there is an alliance between therapist and client? Until now, researchers and practitioners have lacked a strong theoretical foundation for answering such questions. This ground-breaking book fills this gap by showing how social identity processes are key to understanding and effectively managing a broad range of health-related problems. Integrating a wealth of evidence that the authors and colleagues around the world have built up over the last decade, The New Psychology of Health provides a powerful framework for reconceptualising the psychological dimensions of a range of conditions – including stress, trauma, ageing, depression, addiction, eating behaviour, brain injury, and pain. Alongside reviews of current approaches to these various issues, each chapter provides an in-depth analysis of the ways in which theory and practice can be enriched by attention to social identity processes. Here the authors show not only how an array of social and structural factors shape health outcomes through their impact on group life, but also how this analysis can be harnessed to promote the delivery of ‘social cures’ in a range of fields. This is a must-have volume for service providers, practitioners, students, and researchers working in a wide range of disciplines and fields, and will also be essential reading for anyone whose goal it is to improve the health and well-being of people and communities in their care.
'Health Psychology in Context' provides an introduction to health psychology and an overview of contemporary theory and practice. It addresses many of the key issues and challenges in practice, taking into account the latest developments in health care policy including strategies for improving health, tackling unhealthy lifestyles and securing good health for the whole population.
