Attitudes and representations of health promotion: an investigation among Italian psychologists

Journal title PSICOLOGIA DELLA SALUTE
Author/s Barbara Muzzulini, Marco Rizzo, Anna Paola Capriulo, Norma De Piccoli
Publishing Year 2025 Issue 2025/1
Language Italian Pages 21 P. 35-55 File size 160 KB
DOI 10.3280/PDS2025-001005
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Health promotion constitutes an interdisciplinary and interprofessional area of intervention. Identifying the role of psychologists is key to integrate psychological intervention in this field. The present research investigates Italian psychologists’ attitudes and representations about health promotion, underlying the differences based on age, years of experience, and involvement in health promotion work. Based on previous work investigating the role of health promotion professionals and psychologists in Europe and Italy, a survey was created to assess the most relevant skills and competences for participants as well as the key goals of health promotion interventions. Results show mixed attitudes and representations toward health promotion: psychologists aged 31 to 49 with 4 to 10 years of work experience together with those who currently work in health promotion seem to have the greatest knowledge about this field; youngest psychologists (age 24-30 and experience 0-3 years), as compared to senior psychologists (age 50+ and experience 10+) tend to disentangle health promotion methods and competences from the most traditional ones, namely clinical and one-to-one approaches. The current work prompts a reflection aimed at re-thinking the role of health promotion psychologists within a territorial, multidisciplinary and health-driven perspective that does not only operate within traditional settings.

Keywords: Health promotion, health psychologist, multidisciplinary approach, salutogenesis

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Barbara Muzzulini, Marco Rizzo, Anna Paola Capriulo, Norma De Piccoli, Cosa pensano gli psicologi italiani della promozione della salute: una indagine presso un campione di professionisti e specializzandi in "PSICOLOGIA DELLA SALUTE" 1/2025, pp 35-55, DOI: 10.3280/PDS2025-001005