What discoveries in psychology gave rise to the community mental health movement?
The history of the Mental Health movement began when in 1909 the National Committee for Mental Hygiene was established. The objectives of the committee were the preservation of mental health, prevention of psychiatric disorders, as well as improvement of care.
In the 1960s the movement demonstrated the influence of social, cultural and economic factors in mental illness, which later gave birth to the biopsychosocial approach. The approach suggested that physical and psychological are likely to have a biological, psychological and social element that should be understood in order to provide effective intervention strategies. The biopsychosocial framework suggests that these three aspects of health and illness intimately influence each other. The Mental Health movement has always promoted the idea that mental health is a governmental responsibility. It lobbied for legislation with regard to involuntary commitment of the mentally ill patients and certain trial procedures for mentally ill criminals.
What are the primary health issues addressed by clinical health psychology?
The specialty of Clinical Health Psychology aims scientific knowledge of the interrelationships among behavioral, emotional, cognitive, social and biological components in health and disease to promoting and maintaining of health, prevention, treatment and rehabilitation of diseases and disability as well as the improvement of the health care system.
The Clinical Health Psychology focuses on physical health problems. Special attention is drawn to the development of knowledge regarding the interface between behavior and health, as well as the delivery of high quality services based on that knowledge to individuals, families, and health care systems.
CHP also has special knowledge in health research methods and awareness of the distinctive ethical and legal issues which are associated with practice in Clinical Health Psychology.
Clinical Health psychologists also have expertise in how learning, memory, perception, cognition, and motivation influence health behaviors, are affected by physical illness/injury/disability, and can affect response to illness/injury/disability.
