Chronic Illness Flashcards
What is a chronic illness?
The experience of a long-term condition for which there is currently no cure and is managed with drugs and other treatment
Often preventable, degenerative and costly
Diabetes, COPD, Arthritis, Hypertension
What’re the statistics on chronic illnesses?
Costs 70% of primary and acute care budget
1 in 3 people are living with a chronic condition, of these 24% have 2 LTCs and 20% have 3+ LTCs
50% of GP appointments
64% outpatient appointments
70% inpatient bed days
What are the common elements of chronic illness?
Patient search for meaning and explanation
Uncertainty and unpredictability
Coping and resilience
What can chronic illness impact?
Daily activities (work, hobbies, self care, caring)
Sense of self
Social relationships
Social identity (how others see you)
What are common coping strategies for chronic illnesses?
Denial -> Normalisation -> Resignation -> Accommodation
What’s the ‘expert patient’ concept?
Promotes good self management - important goal for doctors and health service
Patients actively seek to manage condition and are able to share knowledge and expertise
Expert patient feels confident and in control of their life; able to manage condition and treatment in partnership with healthcare professionals
What’s the expert patient programme and its problems/benefits?
Peer led self management programme aiming to improve self management of chronic conditions
Covers topics like healthy eating, exercise, pain management, relaxation, action planning and problem solving
Benefits: patients feel more confident, better prepared, fewer GP visits, fewer ED visits
Problems: not attractive to everyone, puts extra pressure on patient organisations
What’s the self regulatory model of chronic illness?
Representation of illness Coping Emotional response to illness Appraisal Interpretation
What are illness representations?
Illness beliefs refer to a patients own implicit common sense understanding of their illness
5 belief dimensions: identity, cause, time, consequence, control-cure
Dimensions form the patients illness representation
What’s the crisis theory?
How do people manage and cope with chronic illness? They need to find a social and psychological equilibrium - challenges, setbacks and social influences are important and can influence coping responses
Outline chronic pain management
Pain management programmes
Involve clinicians, specialist nurses, physiotherapists, psychologists
