This Research Topic is the second volume of Research Topic "Integrating Health Psychology in Practice: Enhancing Well-Being and Improving Health Outcomes Across Diverse Contexts" Please, see the first volume here.
Grounded in Engel’s biopsychosocial model, Health Psychology emphasizes the intricate relationship between psychological processes and health. Going beyond medical models, it advocates for holistic and multifaceted strategies to address a wide range of healthcare needs, which requires expert knowledge and analysis of the psychosocial context in which they may emerge. This integration involves understanding the interplay between psychological factors - such as stress, behavior, emotions and cognition – and contextual factors in influencing physical health and wellbeing, thereby enabling practitioners to develop more effective interventions tailored to specific settings.
The concept of "care" in its psychological and bio-psycho-social dimensions extends beyond merely treating and preventing diseases. It involves promoting health and abilities, empowerment, well-being, and participation at both individual and collective level. A health system oriented towards health promotion is participatory and shared, actively and systematically involving people and communities in managing health and personal and social development. Such a health system must combine accessibility, timeliness, and effectiveness with psychological and psychosocial services and must integrate this perspective with other dimensions of care and human and social promotion in the community.
The current public health context is indeed complex, thus an integrated approach is more essential than ever. The current landscape continuously incorporates disciplines from various scientific fields, along with different practices and forms of social intervention. Collective health encompasses a range of technical, scientific, cultural, ideological, political, and economic practices developed both in academia and in health institutions, civil society organizations, and research institutes. From this perspective, it supports a set of transdisciplinary, multi-professional, interinstitutional, and intersectoral practices.
In this context, this Research Topic aims to explore how Health Psychology interventions can promote a comprehensive model of care tailored to contextual needs. It seeks to stimulate discussion about how Health Psychology can maintain a transformative commitment that integrates theory and practice in a dynamic and contextual manner, making implicit epistemologies and methodologies explicit in daily practices.
We welcome theoretical and empirical contributions from both experts and young scientists who work in the field of Health Psychology, exploring the influence of institutional knowledge and organizational dynamics in Health Psychology interventions, in contexts such as hospitals, primary health care, territorial care, communities, schools, and public and private organizations.
This Research Topic is interdisciplinary and open to all research methodologies. Submissions of related hypotheses, original research articles, case reports, perspectives, reviews, opinions, and commentaries are welcome. We hope that this Research Topic will contribute to enhancing an in-depth analysis of these cultures and highlight the need to maintain an open and dynamic epistemological tension, emphasizing a continuous engagement between practice and evolving knowledge.
Keywords: Health Psychology; Public Health; Collective Health; Health Promotion; Psychological Intervention; Psychosocial Dynamics; Transdisciplinary Intervention; Contextual Psychology
Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
