Living a Healthy Life With Chronic Conditions: For Ongoing Physical and Mental Health Conditions - Softcover

Lorig, Kate; Holman, Halsted; Sobel, David; Laurent, Diana; Gonzalez, Virginia; Minor, Marian, Ph.D.; McGowan, Patrick; Huebner, Trude LaBossiere

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1933503084 ISBN 13: 9781933503080

Publisher: Bull Pub Co, 2007

Synopsis

Filled with hundreds of tips, suggestions, and strategies, the Canadian edition of this best-selling guide offers practical medical solutions in clear language. It explains how to develop and maintain exercise and nutrition programs, manage symptoms, determine when to seek medical help, work effectively with doctors, properly use medications and minimize side effects, find community resources, discuss the illness with family and friends, and tailor social activities for particular conditions. Written by six medical professionals, this book encourages an individual approach to the process, with the ultimate goal being greater self-management. Originally based on a five-year study conducted at Stanford University with hundreds of volunteers, this work has grown to include the feedback of medical professionals and thousands of people with chronic conditions all over the world.

About this title

About the Author

Kate Lorig, RN, Dr.PH, is a director and senior research scientist at the Stanford University School of Medicine's Patient Education Research Center.Halsted Holman, MD, is a professor of medicine at Stanford University School of Medicine.David Sobel, MD, is director of patient education and health promotion at the Kaiser Permanente Medical Care Program, Northern California Region.Diana Laurent, MPH, is a chronic disease health educator at Stanford Patient Education Research Center. Virginia Gonzalez, MPH, is a chronic disease health educator at Stanford Patient Education Research Center.Marian Minor, RPT, PhD, is an assistant professor at the University of Missouri, Department of Physical Therapy.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Living a Healthy Life with Chronic Conditions

For Ongoing Physical and Mental Health Conditions

By Kate Lorig, Halsted Holman

Bull Publishing Company

Copyright © 2007 Bull Publishing Company
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-933503-08-0

Contents

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS, 
CHAPTER 1 Overview of Self–Management, 
CHAPTER 2 Becoming an Active Self–Manager, 
CHAPTER 3 Finding Resources, 
CHAPTER 4 Understanding and Managing Common Symptoms, 
CHAPTER 5 Using Your Mind to Manage Symptoms, 
CHAPTER 6 Exercising for Fun and Fitness, 
CHAPTER 7 Exercising for Flexibility and Strength: Warm–Up/Cool–Down, 
CHAPTER 8 Exercising for Endurance: Aerobic Activities, 
CHAPTER 9 Exercising Tips for People with Specific Chronic Illnesses, 
CHAPTER 10 Communicating, 
CHAPTER 11 Sex and Intimacy, 
CHAPTER 12 Making Your Wishes Known: Advance Directives for Health Care, 
CHAPTER 13 Healthy Eating, 
CHAPTER 14 Managing Your Medicines, 
CHAPTER 15 Making Treatment Decisions, 
CHAPTER 16 Managing Chronic Lung Disease, 
CHAPTER 17 Managing Heart Disease and High Blood Pressure, 
CHAPTER 18 Managing Arthritis, 
CHAPTER 19 Managing Diabetes, 
CHAPTER 20 Planning for the Future: Fears and Reality, 
CHAPTER 21 200+ Helpful Hints, 
INDEX, 

CHAPTER 1

OVERVIEW OF SELF-MANAGEMENT

Nobody wants to have a chronic long-term illness. Unfortunately, most of us will experience two or more of these conditions during our lives. This book has been written to teach people with chronic illness a healthy way to live with a disease. This may seem like a strange concept. How can one have an illness and live a healthy life at the same time? To answer this, we need to look at the consequences of most chronic diseases. These diseases, be they heart disease, diabetes, liver disease, emphysema, or any one of a host of others, cause most people to lose physical conditioning and experience fatigue. In addition, they may cause emotional distress such as frustration, anger, depression, or a sense of helplessness. Health is soundness of body and mind, and a healthy life is one that seeks that soundness. Therefore, a healthy way to live with a chronic illness is to work at overcoming the physical and emotional problems caused by the disease. The goal is to achieve the greatest possible physical capability and pleasure from life. That is what this book is all about.

You will not find any miracles or cures in these pages. Rather, you will find hundreds of tips and ideas to make your life easier. This advice comes from physicians and other health professionals, and, most important, people like you who have learned to positively manage their illness. Please note that we said "positively manage." You see, there is no way you can avoid managing a chronic condition. If you do nothing but suffer, this is a management style. If you only take medication, this is another management style. If you choose to be a positive self-manager and undergo all the best treatments that health care professionals have to offer along with being proactive in your day-to-day management, this will lead you to live a healthy life.

In this chapter, we discuss chronic illness in general as well as point out the most common problems. In addition, we give some guidance on the self-management skills that are unique to particular conditions. You will soon see that the problems and skills have much more in common than you might think. The rest of the book deals with the details you will need in order to master many o

Edition details

• Publisher: Bull Pub Co
• Publication date: 2007
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1933503084
• ISBN 13: 9781933503080
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 421