Goals and Education My largest goal is to prepare for the health and wellness industry. It has always been my dream job to help the elderly in health psychology. I have always felt like the elderly population was underserved in society and obtaining a Master of Science degree in Health Psychology is a way for me to help serve that population. By taking this degree I will be able to select electives focusing on such topics as substance abuse, adult psychopathology, trauma, and wellness especially for elderly patients. This would enable me to be better situated to provide professional insight into how to approach the psychology of this group.

Collaborative care in mental health is one model that I feel applies particularly well to the field of health psychology, particularly with the elderly population. Many elderly patients require both physical and mental health care. I would love to be able to collaborate with a physical health care provider by monitoring and facilitating the patient’s progress with respect to mental health development. Collaborative care is a principle that can help both patients and care providers and the facilities dedicated to patient quality care. As Trautman (2017) points out, collaborative care...

The more that various professionals from different fields work together to provide holistic care to patients, especially to underserved patients, the greater the impact can be on all stakeholders. Kroenke and Unutzer (2017) point out that mental health should be integrated into primary care in order to better serve patients, and that is a theory that I would like to be part of.
Other theories in the field of health psychology I want to explore further are the psychological theory of behavior modification and the transcultural approach to care. Through understanding all the psychological factors (which can be internal and external) that impact a person’s health, a health psychologist can better work with other care providers and with the patient to provide quality care. I am also open to exploring any other theories and principles that are introduced in this course—after all, I am here to learn as much as possible.

I see myself contributing to the field of health psychology in many different ways. I would like to conduct research in the field so that evidence-based practice based on the findings can be applied to help make…