How health psychology makes a difference

Health psychology is the study of psychological and behavioural processes in health, illness and health care. As a relatively young discipline, the challenge for health psychology is to demonstrate that it can and does make a difference to the investigation of the health of the population. The tenth annual European Health Psychology Society Conference, held in Dublin in September 1996, focused on health psychology in chronic disease. The challenge was whether health psychology makes a difference to the science of the prevention and management of our major Chronic di seases. Conference presentations illustrated that health psychology makes a difference by using all methods of investigation [including description, measurement, prediction, explanation and intervention] and by studying a wide range of chronic diseases.