Proactive Health Consumer
The program uses validated assessments and empirically based guidance to address four dimensions of being a proactive health consumer:
- Participating as a partner in decision making with health care providers;
- Learning about and carefully considering options before making decisions regarding health plans, providers, tests, treatments, and end-of-life care;
- Engaging in ongoing health and wellness activities; and
- Using health services wisely and in a financially responsible way.
Based on extensive qualitative and quantitative research, the PHC helps increase health literacy, and meets the needs of the insured, under-insured, and uninsured. The program includes a computer-tailored intervention to increase readiness to become a more active participant in one’s health and health care, as well as an interactive Personal Activity Center designed to assist people in each domain of being a PHC. Activities include interactive and editable scripts about how to talk with a doctor about difficult topics, a queue to organize and prioritize questions for a medical appointment, quizzes about health care costs, and interactive testimonials in which the user receives feedback and tips on how they could’ve proceeded in various scenarios.
An article on PHC from the journal “The Art and Science of Health Promotion” is available as a PDF Download.
