The "Healthy China 2030" blueprint was released on Oct. 25, 2016. Photo: IC PHOTO

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Health psychology examines the psychological and social factors that affect human health, recognizing that cognitive factors such as individuals’ understanding and expectations of health, emotional factors such as fear of illness and treatment, and behavioral factors such as diet and exercise play roles as significant as biological factors in maintaining or undermining health. Since its inception, the field has produced a large body of research on health behaviors and their impacts, with wide applications in healthcare services and other areas. Considering current societal concerns, health psychology in China has vast potential for development. 

Healthy aging

In an aging society, late adulthood becomes a key period in national health management. Correspondingly, health psychology should make a greater contribution to improving the health of the elderly. As chronic diseases and multimorbidity have become commonplace, health concerns are no longer limited to maintaining or improving health and disease recovery. A newer concept of health emphasizes “adaptive and self-management capabilities”—individuals who experience age-related impairments (e.g., hearing loss) but can compensate for them (e.g., by means of hearing aids) are still considered healthy. Similarly, individuals with one or more chronic diseases who can effectively adapt to and manage their conditions exhibit these capabilities in ways that traditional indicators such as prevalence, mortality rates, or recovery rates cannot fully capture.

In the future, health psychology should place greater emphasis on quality of life as a key variable in assessing the effectiveness of surgical procedures, nursing methods, and interventions. Some researchers suggest that successful aging consists of three components: disease and disability prevention, maintaining high cognitive and physical function, and sustaining active social engagement. Integrating health psychology with geriatrics and community health governance is an effective strategy to address the challenges of population aging. Key objectives of China’s health psychology in the new era are to help older adults maintain health, prevent and manage diseases and pain, and enhance both their quality of life and sense of purpose.

Disease prevention

Unhealthy behavior often leads to chronic conditions, which account for a large proportion of national health expenditures. As medical technologies advance and become more widely accessible, modern society has shown an increasing tendency to over-rely on medical interventions. Health psychology advocacy and interventions can help more individuals develop healthy habits and improve self-management, reducing disease risks and ultimately benefiting both individuals and society by improving quality of life and reducing medical expenses.

Chronic diseases typically develop progressively, with serious symptoms appearing in middle and old age. Early detection of high-risk groups and trigger factors for specific diseases is instrumental in eliminating these risk factors and modifying associated behaviors. Adolescents, influenced by curiosity and peer pressure, are particularly susceptible to unhealthy habits, with smoking and substance abuse posing major threats to their well-being. Therefore, health psychology education should begin in childhood to cultivate healthy lifestyles and behaviors.

Occupational health

In recent years, occupational health psychology has emerged as a subfield of health psychology. It focuses on workers’ well-being, encompassing the effectiveness, safety, and reliability of occupational activities, the quality of both professional and personal life, and the individual, professional, and organizational factors that influence occupational health.

In China, as several generations of workers dedicated to national modernization enter middle age and beyond, occupational diseases are becoming increasingly prevalent. To mitigate disability risks in manual labor and prevent overwork-related deaths among non-manual workers, occupational health psychology can inform changes in organizational management structures and processes, ultimately improving workers’ health and well-being. In the future, occupational health psychology needs to thoroughly explore the relationships between work, organizations, and workers, advocate for creating healthy work environments, and provide diverse resources for employees.

Responsible consumption

In post-industrial society, consumption is a key factor in the construction and representation of self-identity and lifestyle. Emerging consumption channels and trends have introduced new lifestyle challenges. The pervasive influence of social media, for instance, has led to excessive use, negatively impacting mental health. Meanwhile, the decline of home cooking and the increasing prevalence of dining out and food delivery services have fostered unhealthy eating habits, contributing to health issues such as the obesity epidemic.

Personal values positively influence individuals’ health awareness and environmental attitudes. Guiding consumer motivations and strengthening self-regulation to cultivate responsible consumption habits will be a key focus of China’s health psychology in the future. With the implementation of the Healthy China initiative, health psychology should assume a more significant role in promoting population health and enhancing public health literacy.

Li Lili is an associate professor from the School of Psychology at Xinjiang Normal University.

Edited by WANG YOURAN