The transfer of information from experts in the medical and public health fields to patients and the public. The study and use of communication strategies to inform and influence individual and community decisions that enhance health.

Behaviors expressed by individuals to protect, maintain or promote their health status. For example, proper diet, and appropriate exercise are activities perceived to influence health status. Life style is closely associated with health behavior and factors influencing life style are socioeconomic, educational, and cultural.

Encouraging consumer behaviors most likely to optimize health potentials (physical and psychosocial) through health information, preventive programs, and access to medical care.

The exchange or transmission of ideas, attitudes, or beliefs between individuals or groups.

The means of interchanging or transmitting and receiving information. Historically the media were written: books, journals, newspapers, and other publications; in the modern age the media include, in addition, radio, television, computers, and information networks.

Education that increases the awareness and favorably influences the attitudes and knowledge relating to the improvement of health on a personal or community basis.

Knowledge, attitudes, and associated behaviors which pertain to health-related topics such as PATHOLOGIC PROCESSES or diseases, their prevention, and treatment. This term refers to non-health workers and health workers (HEALTH PERSONNEL).

Use of marketing principles also used to sell products to consumers to promote ideas, attitudes and behaviors. Design and use of programs seeking to increase the acceptance of a social idea or practice by target groups, not for the benefit of the marketer, but to benefit the target audience and the general society.

Information intended for potential users of medical and healthcare services. There is an emphasis on self-care and preventive approaches as well as information for community-wide dissemination and use.

The observable response an animal makes to any situation.

Branch of medicine concerned with the prevention and control of disease and disability, and the promotion of physical and mental health of the population on the international, national, state, or municipal level.

Instruments or technological means of communication that reach large numbers of people with a common message: press, radio, television, etc.

The level of health of the individual, group, or population as subjectively assessed by the individual or by more objective measures.

Those factors, such as language or sociocultural relationships, which interfere in the meaningful interpretation and transmission of ideas between individuals or groups.

The transmission and reception of electric impulses or signals by means of electric waves without a connecting wire, or the use of these waves for the wireless transmission of electric impulses into which sound is converted. (From Webster's 3d)

The physical condition of human reproductive systems.

Procedures, strategies, and theories of planning.

The term "United States" in a medical context often refers to the country where a patient or study participant resides, and is not a medical term per se, but relevant for epidemiological studies, healthcare policies, and understanding differences in disease prevalence, treatment patterns, and health outcomes across various geographic locations.

Platforms that provide the ability and tools to create and publish information accessed via the INTERNET. Generally these platforms have three characteristics with content user generated, high degree of interaction between creator and viewer, and easily integrated with other sites.

Authors' withdrawal or disavowal of their participation in performing research or writing the results of their study.

Typical way of life or manner of living characteristic of an individual or group. (From APA, Thesaurus of Psychological Index Terms, 8th ed)

Behavioral responses or sequences associated with eating including modes of feeding, rhythmic patterns of eating, and time intervals.

Predetermined sets of questions used to collect data - clinical data, social status, occupational group, etc. The term is often applied to a self-completed survey instrument.

Reduction of high-risk choices and adoption of low-risk quantity and frequency alternatives.

A mode of communication concerned with inducing or urging the adoption of certain beliefs, theories, or lines of action by others.

How information is gathered in personal, academic or work environments and the resources used.

A systematic collection of factual data pertaining to health and disease in a human population within a given geographic area.

The physical activity of a human or an animal as a behavioral phenomenon.

Public attitudes toward health, disease, and the medical care system.

A loose confederation of computer communication networks around the world. The networks that make up the Internet are connected through several backbone networks. The Internet grew out of the US Government ARPAnet project and was designed to facilitate information exchange.

Messages between computer users via COMPUTER COMMUNICATION NETWORKS. This feature duplicates most of the features of paper mail, such as forwarding, multiple copies, and attachments of images and other file types, but with a speed advantage. The term also refers to an individual message sent in this way.

Those factors which cause an organism to behave or act in either a goal-seeking or satisfying manner. They may be influenced by physiological drives or by external stimuli.

Physical activity which is usually regular and done with the intention of improving or maintaining PHYSICAL FITNESS or HEALTH. Contrast with PHYSICAL EXERTION which is concerned largely with the physiologic and metabolic response to energy expenditure.

The degree to which individuals are inhibited or facilitated in their ability to gain entry to and to receive care and services from the health care system. Factors influencing this ability include geographic, architectural, transportational, and financial considerations, among others.

Application of marketing principles and techniques to maximize the use of health care resources.

The teaching or training of patients concerning their own health needs.

Any behavior caused by or affecting another individual, usually of the same species.

Regular course of eating and drinking adopted by a person or animal.

The circulation or wide dispersal of information.

Cultural and linguistic competence is a set of congruent behaviors, attitudes, and policies that come together in a system, agency, or among professionals that enables effective work in cross-cultural situations. Competence implies the capacity to function effectively as an individual and an organization within the context of the cultural beliefs, behaviors, and needs presented by consumers and their communities.

The concept concerned with all aspects of providing and distributing health services to a patient population.

Cognitive mechanism based on expectations or beliefs about one's ability to perform actions necessary to produce a given effect. It is also a theoretical component of behavior change in various therapeutic treatments. (APA, Thesaurus of Psychological Index Terms, 1994)

The observable response of a man or animal to a situation.

An agency of the UNITED STATES PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE that conducts and supports programs for the prevention and control of disease and provides consultation and assistance to health departments and other countries.

Social and economic factors that characterize the individual or group within the social structure.

Acquired or learned food preferences.

Inhaling and exhaling the smoke of burning TOBACCO.

The process by which decisions are made in an institution or other organization.

Sexual activities of humans.

A method of data collection and a QUALITATIVE RESEARCH tool in which a small group of individuals are brought together and allowed to interact in a discussion of their opinions about topics, issues, or questions.

Interactions between health personnel and patients.

Performance of activities or tasks traditionally performed by professional health care providers. The concept includes care of oneself or one's family and friends.

Conversations with an individual or individuals held in order to obtain information about their background and other personal biographical data, their attitudes and opinions, etc. It includes school admission or job interviews.

Decisions, usually developed by government policymakers, for determining present and future objectives pertaining to the health care system.

Sexual activities of animals.

Delivery of health services via remote telecommunications. This includes interactive consultative and diagnostic services.

Any of several ways in which living cells of an organism communicate with one another, whether by direct contact between cells or by means of chemical signals carried by neurotransmitter substances, hormones, and cyclic AMP.

Studies in which the presence or absence of disease or other health-related variables are determined in each member of the study population or in a representative sample at one particular time. This contrasts with LONGITUDINAL STUDIES which are followed over a period of time.

The state wherein the person is well adjusted.

Innovation and improvement of the health care system by reappraisal, amendment of services, and removal of faults and abuses in providing and distributing health services to patients. It includes a re-alignment of health services and health insurance to maximum demographic elements (the unemployed, indigent, uninsured, elderly, inner cities, rural areas) with reference to coverage, hospitalization, pricing and cost containment, insurers' and employers' costs, pre-existing medical conditions, prescribed drugs, equipment, and services.

Behaviors associated with the ingesting of alcoholic beverages, including social drinking.

Any observable response or action of a child from 24 months through 12 years of age. For neonates or children younger than 24 months, INFANT BEHAVIOR is available.

Studies designed to assess the efficacy of programs. They may include the evaluation of cost-effectiveness, the extent to which objectives are met, or impact.

Any observable response or action of an adolescent.

A status with BODY WEIGHT that is grossly above the acceptable or desirable weight, usually due to accumulation of excess FATS in the body. The standards may vary with age, sex, genetic or cultural background. In the BODY MASS INDEX, a BMI greater than 30.0 kg/m2 is considered obese, and a BMI greater than 40.0 kg/m2 is considered morbidly obese (MORBID OBESITY).

Communication between animals involving the giving off by one individual of some chemical or physical signal, that, on being received by another, influences its behavior.

Media that facilitate transportability of pertinent information concerning patient's illness across varied providers and geographic locations. Some versions include direct linkages to online consumer health information that is relevant to the health conditions and treatments related to a specific patient.

Descriptions and evaluations of specific health care organizations.

The state of the organism when it functions optimally without evidence of disease.

Collaborative process of research involving researchers and community representatives.

Statistical measures of utilization and other aspects of the provision of health care services including hospitalization and ambulatory care.

The tendency to explore or investigate a novel environment. It is considered a motivation not clearly distinguishable from curiosity.

Care which provides integrated, accessible health care services by clinicians who are accountable for addressing a large majority of personal health care needs, developing a sustained partnership with patients, and practicing in the context of family and community. (JAMA 1995;273(3):192)

Statistical models which describe the relationship between a qualitative dependent variable (that is, one which can take only certain discrete values, such as the presence or absence of a disease) and an independent variable. A common application is in epidemiology for estimating an individual's risk (probability of a disease) as a function of a given risk factor.

Educational attainment or level of education of individuals.

Disturbances considered to be pathological based on age and stage appropriateness, e.g., conduct disturbances and anaclitic depression. This concept does not include psychoneuroses, psychoses, or personality disorders with fixed patterns.

The behavior patterns associated with or characteristic of a mother.

The application of modern theories of learning and conditioning in the treatment of behavior disorders.

Planning for needed health and/or welfare services and facilities.

The levels of excellence which characterize the health service or health care provided based on accepted standards of quality.

Men and women working in the provision of health services, whether as individual practitioners or employees of health institutions and programs, whether or not professionally trained, and whether or not subject to public regulation. (From A Discursive Dictionary of Health Care, 1976)

Services for the diagnosis and treatment of disease and the maintenance of health.

Health services required by a population or community as well as the health services that the population or community is able and willing to pay for.

Insurance providing coverage of medical, surgical, or hospital care in general or for which there is no specific heading.

The concept pertaining to the health status of inhabitants of the world.

Relatively invariant mode of behavior elicited or determined by a particular situation; may be verbal, postural, or expressive.

The seeking and acceptance by patients of health service.

The integration of epidemiologic, sociological, economic, and other analytic sciences in the study of health services. Health services research is usually concerned with relationships between need, demand, supply, use, and outcome of health services. The aim of the research is evaluation, particularly in terms of structure, process, output, and outcome. (From Last, Dictionary of Epidemiology, 2d ed)

The optimal state of the mouth and normal functioning of the organs of the mouth without evidence of disease.

Attitudes of personnel toward their patients, other professionals, toward the medical care system, etc.

Undertaking a task involving a challenge for achievement or a desirable goal in which there is a lack of certainty or a fear of failure. It may also include the exhibiting of certain behaviors whose outcomes may present a risk to the individual or to those associated with him or her.

An aspect of personal behavior or lifestyle, environmental exposure, or inborn or inherited characteristic, which, on the basis of epidemiologic evidence, is known to be associated with a health-related condition considered important to prevent.

Disorders of verbal and nonverbal communication caused by receptive or expressive LANGUAGE DISORDERS, cognitive dysfunction (e.g., MENTAL RETARDATION), psychiatric conditions, and HEARING DISORDERS.

Management of public health organizations or agencies.

Transmission of emotions, ideas, and attitudes between individuals in ways other than the spoken language.

Behavior which may be manifested by destructive and attacking action which is verbal or physical, by covert attitudes of hostility or by obstructionism.

The act of making a selection among two or more alternatives, usually after a period of deliberation.

The interactions between physician and patient.

The amounts spent by individuals, groups, nations, or private or public organizations for total health care and/or its various components. These amounts may or may not be equivalent to the actual costs (HEALTH CARE COSTS) and may or may not be shared among the patient, insurers, and/or employers.

Variation in rates of disease occurrence and disabilities between population groups defined by socioeconomic characteristics such as age, ethnicity, economic resources, or gender and populations identified geographically or similar measures.

The promotion and maintenance of physical and mental health in the work environment.

The science of controlling or modifying those conditions, influences, or forces surrounding man which relate to promoting, establishing, and maintaining health.

Any behavior associated with conflict between two individuals.

Equipment that provides mentally or physically disabled persons with a means of communication. The aids include display boards, typewriters, cathode ray tubes, computers, and speech synthesizers. The output of such aids includes written words, artificial speech, language signs, Morse code, and pictures.

Animal behavior associated with the nest; includes construction, effects of size and material; behavior of the adult during the nesting period and the effect of the nest on the behavior of the young.

The status of health in rural populations.

Degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, process, and understand basic health information and services needed to make appropriate health decisions.

The activities and endeavors of the public health services in a community on any level.

The concept covering the physical and mental conditions of women.

Organized services to provide mental health care.

Elements of limited time intervals, contributing to particular results or situations.

Components of a national health care system which administer specific services, e.g., national health insurance.

The status of health in urban populations.

A health care system which combines physicians, hospitals, and other medical services with a health plan to provide the complete spectrum of medical care for its customers. In a fully integrated system, the three key elements - physicians, hospital, and health plan membership - are in balance in terms of matching medical resources with the needs of purchasers and patients. (Coddington et al., Integrated Health Care: Reorganizing the Physician, Hospital and Health Plan Relationship, 1994, p7)

Preferentially rated health-related activities or functions to be used in establishing health planning goals. This may refer specifically to PL93-641.

Diagnostic, therapeutic and preventive health services provided for individuals in the community.

Planning for the equitable allocation, apportionment, or distribution of available health resources.

Behavior in which persons hurt or harm themselves without the motive of suicide or of sexual deviation.

The interaction of two or more persons or organizations directed toward a common goal which is mutually beneficial. An act or instance of working or acting together for a common purpose or benefit, i.e., joint action. (From Random House Dictionary Unabridged, 2d ed)

Economic sector concerned with the provision, distribution, and consumption of health care services and related products.

Research aimed at assessing the quality and effectiveness of health care as measured by the attainment of a specified end result or outcome. Measures include parameters such as improved health, lowered morbidity or mortality, and improvement of abnormal states (such as elevated blood pressure).

Behaviors which are at variance with the expected social norm and which affect other individuals.

Organized services to provide health care for children.

A specialized agency of the United Nations designed as a coordinating authority on international health work; its aim is to promote the attainment of the highest possible level of health by all peoples.

Animal searching behavior. The variable introductory phase of an instinctive behavior pattern or sequence, e.g., looking for food, or sequential courtship patterns prior to mating.

The reciprocal interaction of two or more persons.

Instinctual behavior pattern in which food is obtained by killing and consuming other species.

Health services, public or private, in rural areas. The services include the promotion of health and the delivery of health care.

Planning that has the goals of improving health, improving accessibility to health services, and promoting efficiency in the provision of services and resources on a comprehensive basis for a whole community. (From Facts on File Dictionary of Health Care Management, 1988, p299)

A system containing any combination of computers, computer terminals, printers, audio or visual display devices, or telephones interconnected by telecommunications equipment or cables: used to transmit or receive information. (Random House Unabridged Dictionary, 2d ed)

The aggregate of social and cultural institutions, forms, patterns, and processes that influence the life of an individual or community.

Institutions which provide medical or health-related services.

The observable, measurable, and often pathological activity of an organism that portrays its inability to overcome a habit resulting in an insatiable craving for a substance or for performing certain acts. The addictive behavior includes the emotional and physical overdependence on the object of habit in increasing amount or frequency.

Maleness or femaleness as a constituent element or influence contributing to the production of a result. It may be applicable to the cause or effect of a circumstance. It is used with human or animal concepts but should be differentiated from SEX CHARACTERISTICS, anatomical or physiological manifestations of sex, and from SEX DISTRIBUTION, the number of males and females in given circumstances.

Activities and programs intended to assure or improve the quality of care in either a defined medical setting or a program. The concept includes the assessment or evaluation of the quality of care; identification of problems or shortcomings in the delivery of care; designing activities to overcome these deficiencies; and follow-up monitoring to ensure effectiveness of corrective steps.

Any type of research that employs nonnumeric information to explore individual or group characteristics, producing findings not arrived at by statistical procedures or other quantitative means. (Qualitative Inquiry: A Dictionary of Terms Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 1997)

An act performed without delay, reflection, voluntary direction or obvious control in response to a stimulus.

The total number of cases of a given disease in a specified population at a designated time. It is differentiated from INCIDENCE, which refers to the number of new cases in the population at a given time.

Age as a constituent element or influence contributing to the production of a result. It may be applicable to the cause or the effect of a circumstance. It is used with human or animal concepts but should be differentiated from AGING, a physiological process, and TIME FACTORS which refers only to the passage of time.

Studies in which variables relating to an individual or group of individuals are assessed over a period of time.

Stress wherein emotional factors predominate.

Communication, in the sense of cross-fertilization of ideas, involving two or more academic disciplines (such as the disciplines that comprise the cross-disciplinary field of bioethics, including the health and biological sciences, the humanities, and the social sciences and law). Also includes problems in communication stemming from differences in patterns of language usage in different academic or medical disciplines.

Coordinate set of non-specific behavioral responses to non-psychiatric illness. These may include loss of APPETITE or LIBIDO; disinterest in ACTIVITIES OF DAILY LIVING; or withdrawal from social interaction.

Feeling or emotion of dread, apprehension, and impending disaster but not disabling as with ANXIETY DISORDERS.

Behaviors associated with the ingesting of water and other liquids; includes rhythmic patterns of drinking (time intervals - onset and duration), frequency and satiety.

The interactions between parent and child.

Services designed for HEALTH PROMOTION and prevention of disease.

Psychiatric illness or diseases manifested by breakdowns in the adaptational process expressed primarily as abnormalities of thought, feeling, and behavior producing either distress or impairment of function.

A statistical technique that isolates and assesses the contributions of categorical independent variables to variation in the mean of a continuous dependent variable.

Facilities which administer the delivery of health care services to people living in a community or neighborhood.

The availability of HEALTH PERSONNEL. It includes the demand and recruitment of both professional and allied health personnel, their present and future supply and distribution, and their assignment and utilization.

Planning for health resources at a regional or multi-state level.

Persons functioning as natural, adoptive, or substitute parents. The heading includes the concept of parenthood as well as preparation for becoming a parent.

The behavior of performing an act persistently and repetitively without it leading to reward or pleasure. The act is usually a small, circumscribed behavior, almost ritualistic, yet not pathologically disturbing. Examples of compulsive behavior include twirling of hair, checking something constantly, not wanting pennies in change, straightening tilted pictures, etc.

The process of making a selective intellectual judgment when presented with several complex alternatives consisting of several variables, and usually defining a course of action or an idea.

Available manpower, facilities, revenue, equipment, and supplies to produce requisite health care and services.