Behavioral Health Lab

Health is highly important for every human being throughout their lifespan. Even though we mostly tend to notice our health status only after problems arise, the foundations of a healthy life are already set at a very young age when we are still vivid and healthy. Considering biological, psychological, and social factors, we can understand the process of health and illness across the course of human development.

To maintain and promote mental and physical health, different approaches of prevention and treatment are necessary not only for the individual but also at the community level. Projects in primary prevention try to promote mental and physical health and recognize health problems at an early stage in life. As an example, our DONUT-Project investigated early knowledge of risk factors facilitating overweight and thus yielding recommendations for nutrition, physical activity, media consumption, and body satisfaction for communities.

In secondary prevention, people with a higher health risk are supported. This approach is more selective and targets specific groups, as it can be seen in our project Bad Parents – Psychotherapy for adult children of mentally ill parents. Children of mentally ill parents do not only have a higher genetic health risk but are often also affected by neglect, maltreatment, social disadvantage, or behavioral and emotional problems. This project tries to develop ideas to support the persons concerned while finding out about resilience factors that can be effective in reducing developmental health risks.

Tertiary prevention concentrates on already existing health problems. The increasing number of older population groups, the higher life expectancy and the growing morbidity require possibilities to offer older people, regardless of their impairments and losses, a self-determined and self-sufficient lifestyle. Those questions have been taken into consideration in our project geri-AKTIV in which we develop prevention and intervention approaches from different perspectives (home residents, nursing staff, and relatives). We try to define symptoms and problem areas and motivate clients toward self-contained coping.