Growing Burden of Chronic Conditions
The burden of chronic diseases is becoming unbearable in Australia. Chronic diseases are the leading cause of illness, disability and even death in the country. Because it is a long-lasting condition with persistent effects, it has continuously become a burden in the Australian healthcare system. For example, one in every five Australia had a chronic condition between 2017 to 2018, increasing the number of people seeking healthcare1.
Chronic diseases have become a health concern for the Australian Healthcare system. The advent of chronic diseases followed successes in reducing infections and infant deaths during the late 19th century and early 20th century. Chronic diseases have been linked with modifiable risk behavior practiced by people. The diseases became common because of lifestyle changes among people3. For example, people engage in behaviors such as smoking cigarettes, physical inactivity and poor nutrition.
Mitigation strategies
The health education program is a prevention strategy that can be used to get rid of chronic diseases. The program is designed to facilitate voluntary actions conducive to the health of individuals and communities. It majors on keeping people healthy by providing information on the risk behaviors that contributes to chronic diseases4. The program should be conducted regularly to effectively engage and empower individuals and communities to adopt the best behaviors.
Self-management, also known as self-care, is an important intervention where individuals are given the mandate to actively cope with their chronic diseases on a daily basis. It an important intervention to reduce the burden of chronic diseases because individuals will not depend entirely on healthcare providers in the management of the conditions2. Based on this, the strategy has a positive effect on health outcomes. Therefore, healthcare providers should focus more on promoting self-care as an intervention of managing chronic conditions.
References
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Chronic Disease.
Brady TJ, Sacks JJ, Terrillion AJ, Colligan EM. Operationalizing surveillance of chronic disease self-management and self-management support. Preventing Chronic Disease. 2018;15. doi:10.5888/pcd15.170475
Michener, J. L., & Briss, P. (2019). Health Systems Approaches to Preventing Chronic Disease: New Partners, New Tools, and New Strategies. Preventing chronic disease, 16.
Siminerio, L. M., Albright, A., Fradkin, J., Gallivan, J., McDivitt, J., RodrĂguez, B., & Wong, F. The National Diabetes Education Program at 20 Years: Lessons Learned and plans for the future. Diabetes Care. 2018;41(2):209-218. doi:10.2337/dc17-0976