neoliberalism

eHealth, agency, and vulnerability in cancer: A reflection

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Written by Esther de Jongh

Photo by Steven Lelham on Unsplash

Within the cancer survivorship domain, the use of exercise to reduce negative side effects of treatment is gradually becoming standard practice, resulting in a higher quality of life for many.1-4 Accelerated by the pandemic in 2019, the use of eHealth programs for supervised exercise (also known as telerehabilitation programs), whether experimental or standardized, has increased. eHealth programs have the potential to bypass obstacles that might prevent patients from exercising at a physical location, such as long distances and lack of time or (financial) resources.5-7 Reducing the equity gap in health care is one of the promises its online delivery hopes to fulfill: provision of exercise with online guidance can lower the threshold for those who lack know-how or resources to do so on their own accord, while staying in the familiarity of their own home. In this post I highlight the important role of the healthcare provider (HCP) in making these programs accessible to everyone. 

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A Case for Absurdism in Critical Health Psychology

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By Beck Lowe

Photo by cottonbro studio on pexels

It was during my second undergraduate year of Drama & Performance Studies over a decade ago – performing a dinner party scene where no one ate, and the characters became increasingly agitated for no apparent reason – that I first discovered my love of absurdism.

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Left alone in a storm of stress

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By Natalia Braun, September 2019

“When a flower doesn’t bloom, you fix the environment in which it grows, not the flower.”

Alexander Den Heijer

We are living in an age of stress. The very word ‘stress’ has become an everyday, unavoidable companion. In recent decades, our “stress (or allostatic) loads” have risen starkly. Today’s individuals increasingly suffer from what military has called VUCA: volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity.1 We struggle with non-stop changes and transformations without regaining equilibrium, maintaining pathological stress levels.

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To the CritiSphere and Back Again: What does it even mean to be critical?

meganweierLeave a comment

Something I struggle with is feeling like I’m not a ‘good enough’ critical researcher. I am constantly amazed and taught by amazing friends and peers that just seem to get what it means to be critical – they can integrate neoliberal or constructionist theory effortlessly and seamlessly into a conversation. I do okay if I’m in the ‘academic brain space’, but when it comes to casually referencing critical psychology in my day-to-day life, I find it a struggle. It usually goes something like this:

Me: (Sarcastically) Well, better get that cancer screening done so you can continue being a good neoliberal citizen.

Other: Why is that neoliberalism and not just plain sensible? I think you’re being a bit dramatic here.

Me: Uh, because if you don’t get the screening, you can be constructed as being to blame if you get cancer…I think…

Convincing, right? And that’s just within the health sphere.


Image: Imgur

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