Current Areas of Emphasis

The Center for Psychology and Health provides a foundation for new initiatives to advance psychology in health, as well as for consolidating ongoing work by the association and in collaboration with other organizations. The overriding focus of the center’s work is to highlight the contributions of psychology and psychologists to interprofessional health care teams, as well as interdisciplinary research teams, to prevent and treat serious physical diseases and disorders.

In addition to integrated health care, the center's current areas of interest include: obesity, cardiac disease, substance abuse and cancer. However, many risk factors associated with the etiology and progression of these conditions also serve as catalysts for other chronic health conditions. Therefore, the center is committed to expanding its areas of emphasis to address growing public health concerns.

Many Americans must navigate a fragmented health care system where providers rarely consult with one another. Yet health care reform offers a more patient-centered approach. Integrated health care teams can bring together physicians, psychologists, nurses and other providers, depending upon the individual patient’s health care needs, to diagnose a health problem, plan and provide treatment and monitor and evaluate whether that treatment is effective.

Some psychologists are already involved in such teams, and researchers have found that their participation can enhance patient access to services, improve the quality of their care and better address co-occurring mental and physical health problems.

In fact, researchers at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation have found that (PDF, 482KB):

• 68 percent of people with a mental disorder also have at least one physical health condition.

• 29 percent of adults with a medical condition also have a mental disorder.

To survey the current state of clinical practice effectiveness in health psychology, the Office of Integrated Care at the American Psychological Association issued a request for proposals in 2015 to fund psychologists in practice in health care settings in order to evaluate existing clinical data to determine the impact of psychological services on clinical outcome. These studies provide a snapshot of the role(s) of psychologists within a rapidly changing health care system — and document the impact and value of the interventions delivered by psychologists.

More than 1 million Americans are diagnosed with cancer each year, and some research suggests that up to 95 percent of those cases could have been prevented through behavioral interventions, including quitting smoking, exercising more, staying out of the sun and eating more fruits and vegetables. In fact, some 30 percent of cancer-related deaths are due to tobacco and 35 percent are linked to diet. Additionally, there are significant health disparities, resulting in a 25 percent higher death rate for blacks than whites for the three deadliest kinds of cancer: lung, prostate and breast.

Psychologists are working to:

• Investigate the behavioral underpinnings of cancer.

• Help people cope with cancer diagnosis and treatment.

• Study the cognitive effects of chemotherapy.

• Support those who are caring for a family member with cancer.

Did you know that your thoughts, attitudes and emotions can put you at risk for high blood pressure, heart attacks, strokes and other cardiovascular problems? Research suggests that depressive symptoms increase your chances of having a heart attack even more than being exposed to second-hand smoke. And after a heart attack, even minor depression can increase a patient’s chances of dying in the following five years.

Psychologists are:

• Helping people rebound after heart attacks.

• Reducing patients’ risk of cardiovascular disease by teaching stress-management techniques.

• Addressing any resulting cognitive impairment.

• Treating co-occurring mental health problems, such as depression.

Diabetes is a serious health issue affecting almost 30 million people in the United States. Among the wide-ranging co-morbidities associated with diabetes, mental-health issues — notably depression, anxiety and diabetes distress — are the most overlooked.

APA collaborated with the American Diabetes Association (ADA) to address this, through the development of a diabetes continuing education program for licensed mental health providers. The CE program will be offered several times in 2020.

Obesity in America has reached epidemic proportions. More than 78 million obese adults and 12.5 million obese children and teens face serious health consequences, including diabetes, asthma, sleep apnea and some forms of cancer. If the trend continues to escalate, American life expectancy will decline for the first time since the 1850s.

Psychologists are working to stem the obesity crisis on a variety of fronts, for example, by:

• Studying health disparities.

• Designing interventions for childhood obesity.

• Researching strategies for obesity prevention.

• Developing clinical practice guidelines for obesity treatment.

Psychologists are also on the frontlines of studying the ways that depression, anxiety and stress can lead people to develop unhealthy behaviors, and how obesity can, in turn, contribute to mental health problems.

Illicit drug use is on the rise, with some 23 million Americans reporting that they used an illicit drug within the past month. In contrast, alcohol and tobacco use is declining, but still results in substantial health costs, especially among vulnerable populations. In 2011, less than 1 percent of Americans who needed treatment for drug or alcohol use received it.

Addiction is costly to both individuals and society, adding up to more than $600 billion a year in health care, incarceration and other costs. Psychologists are:

• Developing programs to prevent substance use.

• Creating treatment programs that work.

• Disseminating effective treatments to the larger community.