Hi Manuela,
cheer up...
WHO ARE WE?
You are right, it's very difficult to find our own professional
identity, and the isolation in which we work does not help.
However, the novelty of our field is also a challenge and it's
up to us to shape our future. If we are interested in doing some
clinical work then, first of all, we must make sure we know what
our contribution could be. Do we know that? how clear are we about
our own role in improving health are practice and patients'
conditions? Hoe do we sell our work?
WHO KNOWS WHO WE ARE?
The second thing to do, is to make sure that other health
profesionals know what our role is, and what
services we can offer.
I am sorry to say, in my experience, this is the hardest bit, and
this is were we need to be compact as a professional category to
define and advertise our profile. I feel there is a lot of
misunderstanding about our role and what we could offer on the
market. If you want a proof of this, have a look at the
"Health Psychology" session of the monthly "Appointments" in the
psychologist, where you will find only 2 or 3 posts
advertised. I just refuse to believe that this is
all what we are working for!
The point is, if you look at the "Clinical Psychology" session, you
will find that several of the jobs advertised there could be carried
out by health psychologist instead (or as well).
It's a very unusual position to be in. It's as if the
opportunities are out there, but no one is sure if they are for us.
Advertising our profession will be essential to increase our
options in the next few years. Starting form our daily work, we
should make sure we are clear in our aims and potentials, so that
other professions can learn to work with us.
Finally, you wrote
>what areas do the researchers in your group
> look at? and what practitioners of health psychology are part of
> your group? here we cover mainly smoking screening and diet,
Your group sounds more health promotion oriented than mine.
Unfortunately, in my group I am the only one in health promotion,
## 3 or 4 people are involved in evaluation of Health Services,
either form the users' perspective or form the "cost-effectiveness"
point of view and
## most colleagues work in pediatrics health psychology
I think most of the group members work in hospital, and only 3 of us
are full time researchers.
Hope this helps. Looking forward to hear more voices,
Serena
Serena Meloni
PhD Student
Dep. of Epidemiology and Public Health
The Medical School
University of Newcastle upon Tyne
Framlington Place
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE2 4HH
Tel. 0191 222 5006
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