Self Management and Self Help in Chronic Illness

Question 1

What is self-management?

Answer 1

• taking charge of one’s health
• dealing with symptoms and change over time
• improving QoL
• working more effectively with healthcare professionals

Question 2

Why is self-management important?

Answer 2

• have increased LT chronic conditions

- especially people who live in deprived areas

Question 3

What does self-management involve?

Answer 3

• taking medications
• symptom monitoring and responding
• making behavioural changes
• role adjustments
• managing emotional impact
• negotiating with medical team
• decision making
• accepting condition

Question 4

What social changes facilitate self-management?

Answer 4

• increased telephone and internet access
• increased emphasis on primary intervention
• rise of empowerment movements
• changes in social attitudes to smoking, obesity
• legal changes = smoking ban, sugar tax

Question 5

What can make self-management difficult?

Answer 5

• understanding/remembering issues
• complex/changing regimes
• changing LT habits difficult
• not everyone wants to
• lose motivation
• co-morbidities
• lack of social support
• environment affects health eating/exercise
• financial barriers
• failure to agree on diagnosis/lack of agreement on treatment
• patient feels not listened to
• concerns about medication side effects/dependency/disrupting lifestyle

Question 6

What is the expert patient programme?

Answer 6

• based on social cognition and social learning theory
• setting and achieveing goals increases confidence
• improved QoL by talking to other patient who knows more than condition than HCP
• teaching patients to communicate better

Question 7

What are the types of social support?

Answer 7

• esteem support = increase one’s self esteem
• companionship = through activities
• instrumental = physical help
• structural support = type, size, density, frequency of contact available
• functional support = perceived benefit provided by structure

Question 8

Negative effects of support

Answer 8

• detrimental
• friends encourage others to do bad things
• friends underestimate difficulties
• set bad examples/interfere with healthy behaviour
• support providers adversely affected
• overprotection
• become overly dependent

Question 9

What is self help?

Answer 9

• joining a group of people with similar health issues
• books/learning/online courses
• peer/expert led
• normalising/sharing experiences
• share knowledge and resources
• emotional support
• learn from those who have had condition longer
• talk honestly without upsetting family members