In The Primary Care Consultant: The Next Frontier for Psychologists in Hospitals and Clinics, editors Larry C. James and Raymond A. Folen survey innovative programs that integrate health psychology into primary health care in the Department of Defense, VA hospitals, and selected specialty settings, offering a view of what lies ahead for psychologists in the expanding world of behavioral health care. Chapter authors describe and illustrate their cutting-edge programs and practices, providing valuable models and insights on how a consultative model works in practice, how to make telehealth applications effective, what technical knowledge health psychologists will need to function in primary care, and what new settings hold promise for the future. Chapters explore how psychologists contribute knowledge of how illness affects psychological and psychosocial functioning, help motivate patients for behavioral changes to enhance health and improve prognosis, and assess for treatment needs (for example, uncover cognitive deterioration that might suggest central nervous system problems). With chapters focused on collaborative work with women's health care professionals and in men's health care, the book demonstrates specifically how a biopsychosocial model is applied to working with specific populations.
