title: Self-management: a comprehensive approach to management of chronic conditions.
abstract: For both clinical and economic reasons, the increasing number of persons living with chronic conditions represents a public health issue of growing importance. Emphasizing patient responsibility, and acting in concert with the provider community, self-management represents a promising strategy for treating chronic conditions-moving beyond education to teaching individuals to actively identify challenges and solve problems associated with their illness. Self-management also shows potential as an effective paradigm across the prevention spectrum (primary, secondary, and tertiary) by establishing a pattern for health early in life and providing strategies for mitigating illness and managing it in later life. We suggest ways to advance research methods and practical applications of self-management as steps in its future development and implementation.
authors.affiliation: The authors are with the National Institute of Nursing Research, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD.
authors.forename: Patricia A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Grady
authors.forename: Lisa Lucio
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Gough
mesh_terms: D002908:Chronic Disease / Q000628:therapy*; D003153:Community Health Services / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D012648:Self Care / Q000379:methods*