This is a textbook for medical students, for use on their Communication Skills modules. Medical students are taught psychological theory, yet often do not have the chance to apply this knowledge to practice situations. This book will help them to apply their knowledge of health psychology and learn how to include it when speaking with patients.Understanding the human behaviours that influence health and illness is essential within the field of medicine, and learning how to apply this knowledge when communicating with individuals in healthcare settings is vital. Never has this been clearer than during the recent pandemic, when public understanding of health communications has become an immediate matter of life and death.This book includes a valuable and helpful mix of theory and evidence, as well as detailed examples of how and when to apply your knowledge of health psychology to facilitate conversations about behaviour change with patients. This book covers behaviour change conversation tips and real, clinical practice examples to help build the communication skills that all medical students and doctors need to help improve public health.

Chapter 1: Clinical communication Chapter 2: Behaviour changeChapter 3: Physical and mental healthChapter 4: Risk communicationChapter 5: Role of language in healthcare/LTCsChapter 6: Health promotionChapter 7: Your health behaviours