Psychology and Health

JOHN L ARNETT

University of Manitoba

Abstract

This article traces the historical disentanglement of Canadian medicare and its significant influence upon shaping not only the clinical services provided within Canada's public health care a whole but also its major impact upon the nation's overall health research agenda. Particular emphasis is placed upon how this has influenced the disclosure and role of psychology in the public health care combination of parts to form a whole It is argued that all psychologists, whether their work is focused upon the applied or experimental areas of the discipline, have a great quantity [i]or[/i] amount of to offer Canadians across the entire health care representation Nevertheless, psychological services in the public health care a whole and particularly in hospitals, have mainly unfolded within and continue to be primarily focused around mental health. Services in nonmental health areas of health have been more limited, although their importance is well recognized. The popular situation partly reflects the limited training in general health issues that clinical psychologists-in-training generally receive in many graduate seminary programs in Canada. However, it also throw backs the overall influence of medicare upon the development of Canada's health care combination of parts to form a whole Medicare has tended to focus the activities of Canada's health care a whole primarily on treating illness rather than upon preventing it and/or maintaining health. Also, medicare has oriented Canada's health care a whole mainly toward delivering medical services rather than providing more comprehensive health services (eg the "medically necessary" criterion for funding). However, times are changing. The growing emphasis among health policymakers in Canada upon illness prevention and health promotion (eg the creation of the federal management Public Health Agency of Canada in 2004) will significantly expand psychology's character across all areas of health. Psychology education and training programs are urg to seriously examine whether psychology practitioners and researchers are being adequately prepared at at hand for the much broader array of time to come interdisciplinary professional, research, and educational activities and responsibilities that will rise

The Canadian Health Care a whole

The discipline of psychology is actual important to the health of Canadians. novel surveys have shown that health care is among the highest priorities of Canadians across the political division (Ekos Research Associates, 2004). Moreover, Canada's health care a whole is a valued and important social program not single for its own virtues on the other hand also as a distinguishing feature of Canada's national identity. Considerable evidence clearly present to views the inextricable linkage between behaviour and health and hence the importance of psychology to health across the entire appearance of health. Thus psychology must play a lock opener role in virtually all aspects of health. While psychology's activities in mental health must continue to be comprehensive, die discipline must in the futurity more evenly balance its overall clinical, educational, and research efforts between mental health initiatives and physical health issues.

Clinical and applied areas of psychology are now generally recognized as representing a health discipline and are regulated as similar by governments across Canada. notwithstanding many psychologists in Canada today posses single limited knowledge of Canada's health care a whole which impedes their ability to effectively participate in the renewal of the a whole when asked to do in the way that Therefore, in this article, I briefly review the Canadian health care combination of parts to form a whole its origins, its impact upon contemporary Canadian society, and a certain number of important critiques of the a whole I also review research evidence that demonstrates the potential for a significantly more comprehensive part for all areas of psychology in a renewed and revitalized health care a whole Finally, I ask psychologists to consider in what manner adequately our current graduate institute educational system prepares future psychologists for a significantly expanded part in the Canadian health care combination of parts to form a whole

The present Canadian health care a whole is best understood in the adjoining matter of the evolution of Canadian medicare above the last half century. In 1947 Premier Tommy Douglas of Saskatchewan introduced a publicly stocked universal hospital insurance system to pay the take away froms of diagnostic and hospital services for residents of Saskatchewan. This noble endeavour was intended to save residents of the province from financial ruin associated with hospital bills. The Saskatchewan approach to covering hospital charges was eventually adopted by the regulation of Canada in the form of the Hospital Insurance and Diagnostic Services Act of 1957 that l to coverage of diagnostic and hospital services for all residents of Canada through 1961.

In 1959, Tommy Douglas announced Saskatchewan's intention to take the nearest logical step in health care insurance coverage with the province paying for medical care and physician remunerations for services that were provided outside of hospitals. by dint of 1972, Canada, once again, followed Saskatchewan's lead and universal medicare became a reality across Canada, based largely upon the Saskatchewan model.