Objective To prospectively investigate the impact of whole-process health education guided by the proactive health concept on the quality of recovery in patients with acute pancreatitis (AP). Methods A prospective randomized controlled study design was adopted. A total of 105 patients with biliary AP admitted to the Department of Gastroenterology, Hebi People""s Hospital from January 2023 to January 2025 were selected as the study subjects. They were divided into control group and observation group according to the random number table method, with 46 patients in each group. The control group received routine health education, while the observation group implemented whole-course health education based on the proactive health concept. Both groups received continuous intervention for 1 month. The self-efficacy, health literacy, psychological status, quality of life, and recurrence rates of the two groups of patients before and after the intervention were compared. Results After intervention, the scores of the general self-efficacy scale (GSES), the health literacy management scale (HeLMS), 36-item short form health survey (SF-36) in the observation group were significantly higher than those in the control group (all P＜0.05), the scores of the self-rating anxiety scale (SAS), the self-rating depression scale (SDS), the recurrence rate were significantly lower than those in the control group (all P＜0.05). Conclusion Wholeprocess health education guided by the proactive health concept can effectively enhance the self-efficacy and health literacy of AP patients, alleviate negative psychological states, improve quality of life, and reduce the risk of disease recurrence.