Critical health psychology: who benefits?

Full Abstract

This commentary deals with two issues raised by Hepworth. Concerning definitions, it argues that critical health psychology needs to be more explicit in defining itself as politically left-wing, and that its central defining characteristic should be that it is research and practice which aims primarily to benefit the participants, regardless of any specific method or epistemology. Concerning the value of critical health psychology, it argues that work which has improved health on a global scale and which aims to reduce inequities is being done, but not by critical psychologists, and suggests a need for more action and less rhetoric.

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Author information

Author/s: Lee, Christina (C);

Affiliation: School of Psychology, University of Queensland, Australia. c.lee(-atsign-)psy.uq.edu.au

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Comment; Journal Article

Journal: Journal of health psychology (J Health Psychol), published in England. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2006-May; vol 11 (issue 3) : pp 355-9; author reply 401-8

Dates: Created 2006/06/15; Completed 2006/10/30;

PMID: 16774886, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 12/26/2008)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

Comments and Corrections

CommentOn: J Health Psychol. 2006 May;11(3):331-41. (PMID: 16774882)

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Behavioral Medicine
Humans

Politics
Public Health

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