Re-visiting the relevance and importance of health psychology in South Africa

Bibliographic Data

ID11011783
AuthorsBronwyne J Coetzee (0000-0003-1545-418X, Stellenbosch University, corresponding author), Lodewyk Vogel (Stellenbosch University), Susan Sander (Stellenbosch University), Courtney Field (0000-0002-6022-3703, Stellenbosch University), Ashraf Kagee (0000-0003-1241-2566, Stellenbosch University), Rizwana Roomaney (0000-0002-3585-4992, Stellenbosch University)
Year2023
Volume53
Issue1
Pages57-67
Publication date2023-03-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueSouth African Journal of Psychology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0081-2463 • E-ISSN: 2078-208X
PublisherSAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/00812463221094728
OpenAlexW4280604140
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited45

Health psychology as a discipline has existed for more than four decades and is primarily concerned with research, theory, and practice at the nexus of psychology and health. The discipline is well established across Europe, the United States, and Australia with health psychology societies, postgraduate programmes, conferences, and academic journals dedicated to the discipline in the majority of these countries. However, in South Africa, health psychology remains a broad umbrella term under which psychologists and other health care professionals conduct research. Health psychology is concerned with the biological, social, psychological, contextual, and structural drivers of health and illness, and relies on theory and empirically-driven research to identify and understand important links between health and behaviour. In South Africa, where a large proportion of the population faces multiple co-occurring disease epidemics, such as HIV/AIDS, TB, COVID-19, diabetes, and heart disease, there is a need for a uniting sub-discipline like health psychology to focus intervention efforts and to meet the sustainable development goals. The recent re-establishment of a special interest group in health psychology in the Psychological Society of South Africa (PsySSA) is an important first step. In this article, and as members of the newly re-established special interest group in health psychology, we call attention to the need to promote health psychology in South Africa. In this article, we describe the paradigmatic traditions and theoretical models that inform the discipline. We then argue why health psychology should be prioritised again and recommend future directions for health psychology in South Africa

Asian psychology · Behavioral medicine · Community psychology · Consulting psychology · Critical psychology · Environmental health · Health belief model · Health care · Health promotion · Health psychology · International psychology · Political science · Population · Population health · Psychiatry · Public health · Relevance (law) · Social science · Sociology · Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development · Community Health and Development · Health Policy Implementation Science · Medicine · Nursing · Psychology · Social Psychology

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