The main goals for this course are:

• explain the interaction between psychosocial factors and health;
• understand health and illness behaviors considering different theoretical models;
• select health behavior change strategies based on the previously identified models;
• understand the stress response and its impact on the etiology and development of medical conditions;
• identify illness stressors;
• define illness distress;
• describe and understand the comorbidity of medical conditions and mental illness;
• describe and understand the individual and marital impact of medical conditions in adults;
• describe and understand the individual and familial impact of medical conditions in children and adolescents;
• identify influence factors in the self-management of medical conditions;
• apply methods to promote the self-management of medical conditions.