Marie Johnston on health psychology and the power of behavioural shifts

The Life Scientific

BBC

Technology, Personal Journals, Society & Culture, Science

4.6 • 1.4K Ratings

🗓️ 14 March 2023

⏱️ 29 minutes

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Summary

Marie Johnston is a pioneer in the field of health psychology: the discipline that seeks to understand how psychological, behavioural and cultural factors contribute to our physical and mental health. Today an emeritus professor in health psychology at the University of Aberdeen, her career exploring behavioural interventions has shown that even the subtlest shift in how we act can dramatically change our behaviour and lives for the better – whether that’s in an individual recovering from a stroke, or a nation coming to terms with pandemic safety measures, while her work setting up the UK’s first stress management clinic showed why mental health support needed to come out of psychiatric hospitals and into general practice. Marie tells Professor Jim Al-Khalili why she believes the right interventions can be a powerful tool in improving public health, and indeed our healthcare system; and how an accident at the hairdresser's many years ago helped her become more approachable... Produced by Lucy Taylor.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Before you listen to this BBC podcast, I'd like to introduce myself.
0:03.7	My name's Stevie Middleton and I'm a BBC Commissioner for a load of sport podcasts.
0:08.4	I'm lucky to do that at the BBC because I get to work with a leading journalist, experienced
0:12.2	pundits and the biggest sport stars.
0:14.3	Together we bring you untold stories and fascinating insights straight from the players'
0:18.5	mouths.
0:19.5	But the best thing about doing this at the BBC is our unique access to the sport world.
0:25.0	What that means is that we can bring you podcasts that create a real connection to
0:28.8	dedicated sports fans across the UK.
0:31.2	So if you like this podcast, head over to BBC Sounds where you'll find plenty more.
0:35.7	Hello and welcome to the podcast edition of the Life Scientific.
0:39.6	I'm Jumal Khalili and this is the show where I get to talk with some of the world's leading
0:43.9	scientists and you get to find out what drives them.
0:47.6	We hope you enjoy the episode.
0:53.6	Hello, my guest today is a pioneer in the field of health psychology.
0:58.3	The discipline that seeks to understand how psychological, behavioural and cultural
1:02.7	factors contribute to our physical and mental health.
1:05.9	Her work exploring behavioural interventions has shown that even the subtler shift in
1:10.3	how we act can dramatically change our behaviour and our lives for the better, whether that's
1:16.1	an individual recovering from a stroke or a nation coming to terms with pandemic safety
1:20.6	measures.
1:21.8	Mary Johnston is an emeritus professor in health psychology at the University of Aberdeen.
	...

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