[meteor_slideshow slideshow=”arp1″]
Chronic disease/illness is a condition that is usually permanent or lasts a long time. Although it may not be immediately life threatening, it may get worse over time. It may cause permanent damage/changes to the body. One thing for certain, these illnesses place substantial burdens on the public healthcare system, economic status, quality of life of the individual, family and the community.
There is a plethora of self-management programs underway in Australia now. There is much enthusiasm, but there seems to be many definitions as to what a chronic illness self-management plan is and the elements it contains.
There has been a significant increase in disease management initiatives and services in both the public and private sectors over the last few years. Self-management is a simple concept with many models or components. These models include behaviour change, health risk assessments, telephone or online coaching, outreach visits, case management or disease specific programs to name but a few. These services occur in a range of settings such as hospitals, community health, private health funds, call centres, work place and home environments and general practice (Australian Disease Management Association, Submission Summary, Disease Management).
General practice has, for the most part, based its chronic disease management on a clinical/medical model, all about numbers and normal target ranges and is reactive in its approach. This approach is very impersonal and has little consideration to the patients’ needs/goals, which may or may not be relevant to their chronic condition. I have learnt through self-management training that a patients’ goal may not reflect their chronic illness and that any goal set by a patient is an “important part of their optimal wellness”. General practice needs to consider implementing a proactive approach, keeping the patient as healthy as possible rather than being reactive and treating the patient when they present with illness.
Clinical pathways for patient care and goals have a significant presence in our healthcare system, but these goals are never set by the patient. I am a chronic disease care coordinator. As a care coordinator I provide patient education to enhance knowledge so patients can better self manage their chronic illness. I am part of the Closing the Gap Program – Indigenous Chronic Disease. I have had training in Indigenous health, cultural awareness and community awareness/promotion and chronic illness self management. I have had health coaching training and I feel that this is more orientated to the coach rather than the patient. I am implementing the Flinders Program as I have successfully completed the two-day workshop. I encourage patients to self-manage, to achieve the goals that they have set, but I also want them to as stated in Tschannen-Moran (2010) “become confident as to their ability to set new goals in the future to handle challenges when they arise”.
Indigenous specific interagency referrals play a pivotal role in providing culturally appropriate care. Providing spiritual and cultural needs and developing respect and trust with an indigenous patient are all the ingredients for the beginnings of a journey of chronic illness self-management.
Self-management programs may improve the health outcomes in some Indigenous and non-Indigenous patients with some chronic disease/s, but are these self-management programs optimal in design? How do we design an optimal self-management program that is successful in managing chronic illness? Through research, study and implementation of the self-management programs available, we may one day have that optimal design
Place your order of custom research paper With us NOW. The assignment will be written from scratch by our qualified and experienced writers.
[meteor_slideshow slideshow=”arp2″]
A-Research-Paper.com is committed to deliver a custom paper/essay which is 100% original and deliver it within the deadline. Place your custom order with us and experience the different; You are guaranteed; value for your money and a premium paper which meets your expectations, 24/7 customer support and communication with your writer. Order Now
Use the order calculator below and get started! Contact our live support team for any assistance or inquiry.
[order_calculator]