Patient self-management

Abstract

O nce considered a nice-to-have extra, patient self-management is increasingly being seen as an essential component of good chronic disease care: one that both improves quality of life and saves money. * This message came through loud and clear at the third annual Disease Management Congress [ Washington, DC, US; September 1998 ], where Dr Kate Lorig of Stanford University, California, and Dr Jessie Gruman from the Center for the Advancement of Health, Washington, DC, US, explained the importance of self-management for the chronically ill. They also described ways to help patients become their own primary-care providers.