Processes of Self‐Management in Chronic Illness
Open accessAbstract
Purpose: Self‐management is a dynamic process in which individuals actively manage a chronic illness. Self‐management models are limited in their specification of the processes of self‐management. The purpose of this article is to delineate processes of self‐management in order to help direct interventions and improve health outcomes for individuals with a chronic illness. Design: Qualitative metasynthesis techniques were used to analyze 101 studies published between January 2000 and April 2011 that described processes of self‐management in chronic illness. Methods: Self‐management processes were extracted from each article and were coded. Similar codes were clustered into categories. The analysis continued until a final categorization was reached. Findings: Three categories of self‐management processes were identified: focusing on illness needs; activating resources; and living with a chronic illness. Tasks and skills were delineated for each category. Conclusions: This metasynthesis expands on current descriptions of self‐management processes by specifying a more complete spectrum of self‐management processes. Clinical Relevance: Healthcare providers can best facilitate self‐management by coordinating self‐management activities, by recognizing that different self‐management processes vary in importance to patients over time, and by having ongoing communication with patients and providers to create appropriate self‐management plans.
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Preventing chronic conditions by promoting and enabling self-management is now widely regarded as critical to improving client outcomes and reducing demands on health systems.
“Preventing chronic conditions by promoting and enabling self-management is now widely regarded as critical to improving client outcomes and reducing demands on health systems [6,7].”
From Features of Structured, One-to-One Videoconference Interventions That Actively Engage People in the Management of Their Chronic Conditions: Scoping Review (2025) · cites this paper as [7]
The Abstract (Clinical Relevance; page not provided) says chronic illness management is an important component of health care, and the Clinical Relevance section recommends provider support for self-management. The paper addresses managing existing illness, not preventing chronic conditions; the cited passages also do not establish that self-management reduces demands on health systems or improves client outcomes. (LLM, conf=0.88)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredSelf-management includes seeking support, making decisions, and altering behaviors in the context of everyday life.
“This work, commonly termed self-management, includes seeking support, making decisions, and altering behaviors in the context of everyday life [6-8].”
Self-management programs are known to effectively improve health outcomes and reduce health system demands.
“Self-management programs are known to effectively improve health outcomes and reduce health system demands [6,7].”
From Features of Structured, One-to-One Videoconference Interventions That Actively Engage People in the Management of Their Chronic Conditions: Scoping Review (2025) · cites this paper as [7]
The Self-Management of Chronic Illness section defines self-management, and Clinical Relevance discusses how providers can support it; neither reports that programs improve health outcomes or reduce health-system demands. A search for program effectiveness, health outcomes, and healthcare utilization found no passage in our copy establishing those effects. (LLM, conf=0.72)
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“Preventing chronic conditions by promoting and enabling self-management is now widely regarded as critical to improving client outcomes and reducing demands on health systems [6,7].”
- Authors
- Schulman‐Green, D., Jaser, S., Martin, F., Alonzo, A., Grey, M., McCorkle, R., Redeker, N. S., Reynolds, N., & Whittemore, R.
- Affiliations
- Yale University (US)
- ORCID
- Venue
- Journal of Nursing Scholarship
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2012-05-02
- Volume
- 44
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 136-144
- ISSN
- 0363-2792 (ISSN-L)
- 1527-6546
- 1547-5069
- PMC
- PMC3366425
- OpenAlex
- W1719199032
- Cited by
- 657
- References
- 27
- Citations by year
- 2026: 33 · 2025: 42 · 2024: 52 · 2023: 49 · 2022: 56 · 2021: 55 · 2020: 78 · 2019: 52 · 2018: 65 · 2017: 43 · 2016: 50 · 2015: 29 · 2014: 25 · 2013: 24 · 2012: 3
- FWCI
- 60.51
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Journal of Nursing Scholarship (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- ORCA Online Research @Cardiff (Cardiff University) (submittedVersion)
- UWE Research Repository (UWE Bristol) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Funders
- U.S. Public Health Service (K23 NK088454)
- National Institute of Nursing Research (R21NR011387, P20NR0010674, P20NR010674, P30NR008999, R01NR006009)
- National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (K23DK088454)
- National Center for Research Resources (UL1RR024139)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › Pharmacy › Nursing care and research
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Chronic Disease Management Strategies
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism › Diabetes Management and Education
- Keywords
- self-management, chronic disease, resource activation, living with chronic illness, self-management interventions, patient-provider communication
- MeSH terms
- Chronic Disease, Humans, Self Care, Qualitative Research
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