Case Study Fatima

The Case of Fatima
Jenifer Ranalletti
University of the People
PSYC 1111
Facilitator- L. Mabey
February 4th, 2018

Abstract Health psychology is an important part of the comprehensive treatment of patients. It is essential to determining the best care for patients suffering from both simple illnesses or complex diseases. Fatima is a 30 year old women that was recently diagnosed with hypertension. Using the biomedical model we would have viewed Fatima as a victim to her illness. The biopsychosocial model allows us to see Fatima as a contributor to her condition and determine non biological factors that may have caused her illness. Using this model we can conclude that Fatima’s illness was caused by a combination of both biological,

Because Fatima is limited by her income she finds it difficult to afford fresh food. Social status is another contributing factor to hypertension. Low socioeconomical status has been linked to high blood pressure in young adults. A recent study states”...lower SES (socioeconomical status) is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease and that increased BMI and central obesity are important mediators of this effect(Brummett et al., 2011)” While being in lower SEC does not cause high blood pressure, studies like the one mentioned have concluded that patients in a lower SEC have increased risk behaviours that lead to hypertension such as poor diet, alcohol consumption, and delays in seeking treatment due to financial constraints. Improving SEC can be difficult. Fatima could choose to continue her education or perhaps try for a new job keeping in mind increasing stress is not the ideal outcome. It may be necessary for Fatima to work on her stress and coping mechanisms before working to improve her socioeconomical

There were several factors that contributed to Fatima’s illness. These factors include poor diet, stress, low socioeconomical status, as well as biological factors. If Fatima can lower her stress and improve her diet her outcome for a good recovery will increase. Disease and illness is complicated. Health psychology can help us to determine the causes of illness as well as the best way to treat it. Understanding that health and illness should be viewed as a continuum can help us treat Fatima as a person instead of just an illness. This means that we should study health psychology at the onset of illness, the adaption of illness, and the outcome of illness(Ogden, 2017). We should also strive to remember that no two patients are the same. There are variables that effect treatments and outcomes. Health psychology can help us to understand why one patient might get better faster or with little intervention while another may require more time and a more complex approach to recovery. “Human behaviour plays a significant role in most of the leading causes of death (Kaplan,