PSY 3408: Health Psychology

This course is intended for students interested in learning about health and will be useful for students pursuing psychology, biology, healthcare, biomedical engineering, etc. Health Psychology is an interdisciplinary field that examines the complex relationship between psychology and physical health. Health psychologists study how psychology contributes to the promotion and maintenance of health, the prevention and treatment of illness, and the evaluation and improvement of the healthcare system. This course takes a deep dive into the scientific research on how various psychosocial factors are implicated in health, wellness, and illness. Topics covered in this course include: stress, health behavior change, health communications, psychoneuroimmunology, health disparities, patient-provider relationships, social support, coping, aging, and more. We will explore pressing questions such as: What does stress do to your health? What psychological and social factors lead people to behave in healthy or unhealthy ways? What drives racial, ethnic, or gender differences in health? Does it matter how your doctor talks to you? Can a sugar pill help back pain? En route to answering these questions, students will curate their knowledge in foundational Health Psychology theory and the core biopsychosocial constructs in the field. They will integrate these constructs to analyze and understand drivers of health, wellness, and illness in themselves and the world. No prior experience with psychology is needed to take this course. Students may not receive credit for both PSY 2408 and PSY 3408.