According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than 90 million Americans now live with chronic diseases. These chronic diseases such as diabetes and arthritis result in a decreased quality of life, limited activity, and extended pain and suffering.
When you suffer with a chronic healthcare problem, you deal with many factors that compose that problem. Some of these factors overlap, augment each other, or oppose each other. And each factor may call for its own physician or treatment. If you want to succeed in your quest for wellness, the first thing you must do is drop out of the “I just do what my doctor tells me” school.
Join your healthcare team. Indeed, take over:
- Take responsibility for self-monitoring.
- Introduce better health behaviors into your life.
- Become a collaborative decision-making partner with your
physician(s).
Any why not? You have the disease, not your doctor.
Growing evidence supports your role as a collaborative team member and captain. Remember, about 90 percent of what’s needed to help you improve comes directly from you, the person with the chronic health disorder.
When you become a team caption on your healthcare team, your care will improve as well as your satisfaction as a patient.
To learn more about the growing area of “patient self management,” check out the Stanford programs on self management by clicking here.
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