Hart, J.K. orcid.org/0000-0001-9985-5137, Michael, P., Hawkins, R. orcid.org/0000-0003-1837-4409 et al. (5 more authors) (2023) ‘We just need to find space for them to practice so that we can help to make a stronger society’: Perceived barriers and facilitators to employing health psychologists in UK public health and clinical health settings. British Journal of Health Psychology, 28 (4). pp. 1206-1221. ISSN 1359-107X
Abstract
Introduction
In recent years, health psychology has received significant attention within the health sector, due to its application to understanding influences on health and well-being and translation of health psychology into interventions to support behaviour change. The number of health psychologists in public health and healthcare settings is growing but remains limited, and is it unclear why. This study aimed to explore the views of potential and current employers of health psychologists, to elucidate barriers and facilitators of employing health psychologists in healthcare settings.
Methods
Semi-structured interviews were carried out to explore the experiences of working with and/or employing health psychologists. Opportunities and barriers were explored for increasing access to health psychology expertise in the NHS and public health. Interviews were analysed using inductive thematic analysis.
Results
Fifteen participants took part in interviews. Participants were mid-senior-level professionals working in varied healthcare settings and/or academic institutions. The majority had experience of health psychology/working with health psychologists, whilst others had limited experience but an interest in employing health psychologists. Three key themes were identified: (1) the organizational fit of health psychologists, (2) perception of competition for roles and (3) ideas for changing hearts, minds and processes.
Conclusion
Barriers exist to employing health psychologists in healthcare settings. These barriers include misunderstandings of the role of health psychologists and the need to preserve other disciplines due to perceived competition. Recommendations for change included showcasing the benefits and skills of health psychologists and having transparent conversations with employees and multi-disciplinary colleagues about roles.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2023 The Authors. British Journal of Health Psychology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British Psychological Society. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made. |
Keywords: | behavioural science; health psychology; knowledge translation; public health |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health (Sheffield) > School of Health and Related Research (Sheffield) > ScHARR - Sheffield Centre for Health and Related Research |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 01 Dec 2023 10:32 |
Last Modified: | 01 Dec 2023 10:32 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Wiley |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1111/bjhp.12680 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:205792 |