Health Information Avoidance

Abstract

People do not always welcome health‐ or disease‐related information but instead avoid potentially threatening information about health risks, diagnoses or treatments. This common communication phenomenon or mode of information transaction is called health information avoidance. The entry provides a definition and conceptual clarification showing that avoidance is a purposed decision to avoid attention and exposure to certain information although the information might be of personal relevance. Further, information avoidance is distinguished from related concepts like health information seeking, information ignoring, monitoring, and blunting. The coping and self‐protective functions of health information avoidance are elaborated and positive as well as negative consequences for health and well‐being are described. Health information avoidance is used to cope with emotional burden, but can be counterproductive for health promotion and prevention if it prevents knowledge gain and prevents or delays healthcare uptake or preventive behaviors. With the aim to describe the predictors of health information avoidance, two theoretical frameworks relevant to explain health information avoidance are outlined, which provide a profound basis for empirical testing as health information avoidance is a rather understudied phenomenon and methodological challenges to measure health information avoidance need to be considered.