Health Consciousness: Theory, Measurement, and Evidence

Health consciousness is a psychological construct that has been widely studied among researchers and practitioners seeking to understand health behaviors in different contexts including self-care practices, consumer behaviors, illness prevention, and treatment, among many others. Health consciousness embodies a dynamic interplay between cognitive appraisals, attitudes, and health behaviors. The concept and corresponding constructs are grounded in rigorous theoretical frameworks, and the empirical evidence linking health consciousness to health behaviors is robust. This chapter presents a review of the theory and empirical evidence surrounding health consciousness. It begins by presenting a description of the extant definition of health consciousness, as well as the common presentations of the concept that exist to date. Next, it describes the theoretical frameworks for the concept of health consciousness, including the role that health consciousness plays in each theory. It then describes how health consciousness is operationalized and measured in the literature, presents empirical evidence linking health consciousness to health behaviors across different contexts, and describes individual-level correlates of health consciousness. Finally, the chapter concludes and highlights some future directions for researchers interested in this topic.