Self-care and chronic disease: Dimensions, actors involved and the distribution of responsibilities, role and expectations

Victoria Dickson, Robyn Clark, Eneida Rabelo-Silva, Harleah Buck

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    4 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    It is commonly accepted that one of the biggest challenges for health systems worldwide is the chronic disease care. This is a major cause of disability for individuals, the main reason for people to interact with the medical system, covering an average of 70% of public health care budgets in developed countries (WHO, 2002) The philosophy of the existing health care systems is designed to manage acute illnesses, but it proves inadequate in chronic diseases due to the high costs involved and also because of the quality of care, characterized by a discontinuous and fragmented nature. Integrating self-management into the overall health care system is essential in the chronic disease care, since chronic illnesses are incurable and the daily management of the health condition, necessary for the rest of the life, can be achieved only by patients and their family, friends and relatives. The purpose of this article, resulted from the collaboration between a sociologist and a physician, is to present in brief the size and role of chronic disease self management, the reconfiguration of relationships between patients and health care systems and the underlying ethical issues.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)79-86
    Number of pages8
    JournalNursing Research and Practice
    Volume11
    Issue number4
    Publication statusPublished - 2013

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