Glossary H

Health education refers to a term for the collection of efforts to teach people to limit behaviors detrimental to their health and increase behaviors that are conducive to health. Health educators pay attention to a range of factors including the individual, interpersonal relationships, institutions, community, and public policy.

Health expectancy is defined as the period of life that a person spends free from disability.

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Health habit is defined as a health-related behavior that is firmly established and usually performed automatically, such as taking vitamins regularly, exercise regularly, buckling a seat belt or brushing one's teeth.

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Health insurance refers to the financial protection against the medical care costs arising from accidental bodily injury or disease.

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- Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) : Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) refers to an act which ensures the privacy of client records and the sharing of such information. Generally, HIPAA restricts the amount of information that can be shared without client's consent and allows clients to have access to their records, except for process notes used in counseling.

Health locus of control refers to the perception that one's health is under personal control; is controlled by powerful others, such as physicians; or is determined by external factors, including chance.

- Health maintenance organization (HMO) : Health maintenance organization (HMO) is defined as an organizational arrangement for receiving health care services, by which an individual pays a standard monthly rate and then uses services as needed at no additional or at greatly reduced cost.

Health promotion refers to a general philosophy that maintains that health is a personal and collective achievement; the process of enabling people to increase control over and improve their health. Health promotion may occur through individual efforts, through interaction with the medical system, and through a concerted health policy effort.

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