title: Better management of multimorbidity: a critical look at the 'Ariadne principles'.
abstract: Primary care clinicians and researchers are growing increasingly aware of the prevalence of multimorbidity among long-term conditions, and the impact on patient experience, health, and utilisation of care. The correspondence paper by Muth et al. entitled 'The Ariadne principles: how to handle multimorbidity in primary care consultations' outlines new thinking on a better way to manage the challenges of decision-making in multimorbidity. The paper highlights the importance of shared treatment goals as a fundamental basis for more effective management. Although a welcome contribution to the literature, the principles raise a number of challenges: the complexities of achieving effective patient-centred assessment and goal-setting; how best to encourage implementation of new practices; and the current state of the evidence around multimorbidity and its management.Please see related article: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1741-7015/12/223.
authors.affiliation: NIHR School for Primary Care Research, Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK. peter.bower@manchester.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bower
mesh_terms: D002908:Chronic Disease / Q000628:therapy*; D003657:Decision Making; D019468:Disease Management; D006801:Humans; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000379:methods*