Can Health Care Organizations Better Contribute to Quality of Life by Focusing on Preventive Health Knowledge?

Abstract

In recent years, there has been an increasing number of programs developed by health care providers and public domain entities to enlighten consumers about the benefits of learning more about healthy behaviors. In this study, the authors share a model developed and tested to explore the relationships among an individual's health knowledge, health, and overall quality of life (QOL) assessment. Data were collected as part of a large mail survey. Results support the relationships hypothesized and provide preliminary support for the notion of improving QOL by creating “expert” patients. These results have implications for public policy and future research.

Keywords

health care quality of life preventive health knowledge

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