Abstract
Chronic health conditions represent a significant challenge to global health. By 2020, they will account for 73% of all deaths and 60% of the global burden of disease. The main contributing conditions include: cancer; cardiovascular disease which mainly includes heart disease and stroke; and diabetes. Chronic disease management (CDM) has been a significant focus for many countries worldwide. CDM is characterised by a systematic and coordinated approach from various stakeholders to provide patient-centred care. Successful CDM is dependent on many aspects of health care. These include coordinated care between various organisations; using the best available evidence; support for self-management; and regular review and follow up. Regular reviews of patients with chronic diseases are essential for effective disease management. Reviewing data concerning patients’ perspectives of their diabetes management, together with contributions from other members of the healthcare team such as diabetes educators and nurses, will provide critical information to clinicians. Such reviews assist clinicians to set clear goals to improve patients’ chronic disease management and prevent complications.
Highlights
Managing chronic diseases in rural aged care facilities using point-of-care testing systems Rural and Remote Health 13: 2597. (Online) 2013
Most current clinical guidelines addressing chronic disease management incorporate the measurement of pathology markers such as haemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), lipids and blood pressure for diabetes and cardiovascular disease; estimated glomerular filtration rate, blood creatinine and urine albumin: creatinine (ACR) ratio for chronic kidney diseases, and International Normalised Ratio (INR) for patients requiring warfarin therapy[8,9,10]
A 2012 study by Bello et al investigated the associations between remote residence location and the quality of care and adverse events experienced by people with chronic diseases such as diabetes and chronic kidney disease
Summary
Chronic health conditions represent a significant challenge to global health[1]. By 2020, they will account for 73% of all deaths and 60% of the global burden of disease[2]. Reviewing data concerning patients’ perspectives of their diabetes management, together with contributions from other members of the healthcare team such as diabetes educators and nurses, will provide critical information to clinicians. Such reviews assist clinicians to set clear goals to improve patients’ chronic disease management and prevent complications[5,6]. Other studies addressing the management of chronic diseases by various health professionals such as pharmacists highlighted the importance of close pathology monitoring. Most of these studies involved auditing of medication management reviews and pathology results of patients with chronic diseases[15,16,17]
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