This week we learned about the biopsychosocial model. This model states that health is related not only to biology but also to psychological and social factors (Schneider, Gruman, Coutts, p. 169 2012). The text talks about how social interactions can have a beneficial as well as negative impact on our health. For example, in my own personal life, I try to exercise regularly in order to stay healthy and maintain (or lose) weight. Because of my interest in staying healthy, I have a lot of friends that ask if they can work out with me. For them, having a work out partner is important to helping them make a similar health commitment to themselves, and I have the pleasure of being that positive impact.
That being said, I think a lot of the friends that I have are still in the early stages of change when they reach out about becoming healthier. Chapter 8 of the text also talks about the stages of change model, which includes pre-contemplation, contemplation, preparation, action and maintenance (Schneider et al. p. 180-181, 2012). The contemplation and preparation stages are generally where I find my friends, which is a place I was myself in for a long time. They are either contemplating their heath change, which means they are aware that a change needs to take place and are seriously considering doing so (Schneider et al. p. 180-181, 2012), or they are in the preparation stage which consists of making an actual plan and preparing to start making changes within the next month (Schneider et al. p. 180-181, 2012).
Taking classes like applied social psychology and learning about different health models has been very helpful to me, personally, as well as how I can help my friends and family. I was unhealthy for a long time and I never had any energy and was unhappy in a lot of ways. I’m definitely not the fittest person now, and I don’t make all of the right decisions, but I am much healthier and want to try and help the people I care about to be healthier as well. Hopefully having knowledge about the stages of change model, and others, will help me in my health endeavors!
References:
.Schneider, F. W., Gruman J. A., Coutts, L. M. (2012). Applied social psychology: Understanding and addressing social and practical problems. Los Angeles: SAGE.