Patient Self-management of Chronic Disease in Primary Care

Patients with chronic conditions make day-to-day decisions about--self-manage--their illnesses. This reality introduces a new chronic disease paradigm: the patient-professional partnership, involving collaborative care and self-management education. Self-management education complements traditional patient education in supporting patients to live the best possible quality of life with their chronic condition. Whereas traditional patient education offers information and technical skills, self-management education teaches problem-solving skills. A central concept in self-management is self-efficacy--confidence to carry out a behavior necessary to reach a desired goal. Self-efficacy is enhanced when patients…