Health psychology is a specialty area that focuses on how biology, psychology, behavior, and social factors influence health and illness. Health psychologists use psychological science to promote health, prevent illness and improve health care systems. The book cover topics such as: key theories in health psychology and how to apply them; current approaches to changing health-related behavior at individual, population and regulatory levels; the interaction between psychological processes and disease and illness; and the ways in which social-cultural factors contribute to health.