Self-Management Programs

Heart disease is the number on killer in the United States. Nearly 787,000 people in the U.S. died from heart disease, stroke and other cardiovascular diseases in 2011. That’s about one of every three deaths in America. About 2,150 Americans die each day from these diseases.

Not only has the cases of preventable chronic diseases increased over the years affecting half of the U.S population, they account for 86% of the health care costs. Programs and policies that address risk factors and causes of these diseases at their roots would not only promote public health but reduce the cost of health care both in treatment and hospitalization.

Chronic and acute illness are extremely serious issues in the United States today. Although the two can go hand-and-hand, there are distinct differences between them. Chronic diseases is a leading causes of death and disability in the United States today. Conditions such as heart disease, stroke, cancer, type 2 diabetes, obesity, and arthritis are known to be among the most common, costly, and preventable of all chronic health problems. Two of the chronic diseases, heart disease and cancer, together accounted for nearly 48% of all deaths (CDC, 2016).

What are the major causes of disease and death in the 21st century (e.g., chronic illnesses, communicable diseases, etc.) that continue to affect U.S. citizens in spite of the achievements in public health in the past century? What have been some of the strategies implemented to combat these

Many people throughout the United States (US) have some form of chronic disease. Chronic diseases are conditions that are not passed from person to person (noncommunicable), have a long duration, are commonly slow in progression, and generally have no cure (World Health Organization (WHO), n.d.b). Currently, chronic diseases are the leading cause of disability and death in the US and about half of all adults have at least one chronic illness (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2016b). This means that nearly every person in the US will be affected by chronic conditions whether it be personally or through loved ones having these diseases. The most prevalent types of chronic

In united states, 45% of all citizens have at least one chronic disease (4) and there is growing evidence that as a person age, he is more prone to develop other chronic condition if he is suffering from one (5). According to cdc, Heart diseases, diabetes, stroke, obesity, cancer and arthritis are the most prevalent yet preventable chronic conditions leading to hospitalizations, disabilities and decreased quality of life (6).

Chronic illnesses are a vicious cycle where one illness often leads to another. Think about people being obsese due to inactivity and eating habits. Which in turns into hypertension, diabetes and heart disease and obsesity if not monitored. Not one disease can come alone. African American men are 30% more likely to die from heart disease. 3.7 million (14.7%) of all African Americans aged 20 years or older have diabetes and or suffer from Hypertension. Stress is also a factor in heart disease and hypertension. Obesity is assumed to pose a risk for diabetes. On the other hand, blacks are less likely to report a number of conditions so the mortality rate is

They focused on preventing chronic diseases to improve the overall health of the patient population they serve. This proactive strategy identified high-risk patients early by making sure to adhere to the best practice screening protocols and provided them with healthy lifestyle education.

According to The Center for Managing Chronic Disease at the University of Michigan (2011) website, chronic disease can be defined as any medical condition in which the treatment expectation is one of control, rather than cure. The website further states that up to 70% (1.7 million) of deaths in the United States can be attributed to chronic disease. This statistic is not limited to the United States. The World Health Organization (2014) website states chronic disease accounts for 60% of all deaths worldwide, and half of those deaths occurred in people under the age of 70. The diagnosis of a chronic disease impacts a person in

According to Mason et al., chronic conditions are the number one cause of death in the United States (Mason et al., 2016 p. 275). These chronic illnesses include pulmonary disease, arthritis, kidney disease, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, neurological disease, alcoholism, mental health disorders, gastroenterology conditions, lupus, liver disease, cancers, and many more. While some conditions have uncontrollable risk factors such as age, genetics, gender, and race, society has a large contribution to these poor health conditions as well. Tobacco, alcohol, and illicit drug use, physical and emotional stress, lack of exercise, sleep deprivation, and poor dietary choices all increase the chance of developing a chronic illness.

Education for the providers and patients both need to be more accessible. Providers education for screening, and implementation of a policy to set better guidelines for screening, needs to created so that patients at risk can be educated soon rather than later on lifestyle changes. The education for patients needs to be more extensive in the office and also in the community where individuals are more likely to ask questions and be in an environment were they are more comfortable.

In your post you discussed an approach in which accountable care organizations (ACO) could decrease costs to payers and patients, as well as establish a healthier patient population, by actively managing chronic illnesses. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report in 2012 that “half of all adults – 117 million people – had one or more chronic health condition” (Chronic Diseases Overview, 2016). Since ACO’s are aimed at managing the health of a defined population, starting with tackling the populations chronic illnesses would be appropriate.

Diabetes, heart disease, cancer, eating disorders, obesity, asthma, types of Dementia, and arthritis are only a few types of chronic diseases.

Undisputed and well documented, the prevalence of chronic diseases is the predominant challenge to health around the globe (Bauer et al., 2014). Although the United States spends more per capita on health care than any other country, Americans are less healthy, die sooner, and experience more illness compared to other high-income countries (Bauer et al., 2014; Institute of Medicine (IOM), 2013; Murray et al., 2013). Data from the 2012 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) revealed that approximately half of all noninstitutionalized adults in the U.S. (~117 million) suffer from at least one chronic disease (Ward, Schiller, & Goodman, 2014). Furthermore, the number of older adults (65 years) is expected to increase from 35 million in 2000 to 72 million in 2030 (Johnson et al., 2014). This demographic shift, combined with an increased average life expectancy and advances in medical treatment options, is expected to steadily increase the number of people living with multiple chronic conditions (Anderson & Horvath, 2004; Bauer et al., 2014; Bodenheimer, Chen, & Bennett, 2009; Johnson et al., 2014).

The 21st Century has seen the healthcare system struggle with challenges such as an increase in chronic conditions, an increase in government spending on public health, and emerging threats such as global health security and antibiotic resistance. On the positive side, more people have gained access to care. To deal with these emerging issues as well as existing challenges, we need an effective public health workforce. The public health has the role of protecting the health of citizens. This could be through health promotion and lobbying for increased access to care. To address the problem of the rise in chronic ailments, public health has a role of creating awareness on chronic conditions, their symptoms and management. This is because these conditions are expensive to treat and drain the resources of patients and their families. Public health should therefore educate the public on the importance of screening and conduct these screening services for early diagnosis and prevention of chronic diseases. Another role of public health in the 21st Century is to provide and use evidence based practice in providing clinical services. This would help in addressing some of the emerging challenges such as antibiotic resistance.