At each clinical encounter there should be a conversation that ensures the patient will be supported in developing and refining their care plan and health related goals, within this process there may be individual choices and decisions to be made ,which may involve...

Empowerment of citizens and patients is a task which involves and encourages interaction of communities, health care professionals, policy makers and all other civil society actors, with respect to the health and well being of individuals. Empowering patients means...

Self management is generally defined as the day to day activities that an individual carries out to manage their long term health condition. Self management recognises that the individual’s own behaviors, beliefs and emotional state can significantly affect their...

The evidence for self management is still developing and there is a lack of systemic reviews to draw upon. The definition of self management is very broad, so studies often involve very different interventions and populations which make comparative reviews...

People living with a long term health condition have a unique set of experiences, which enables them to support others, through volunteering or indeed paid employment, and provide a different perspective to that of health professionals. Studies have shown that lay...

From the perspective of health care professionals (HCP), who want to set up educational programs, there are many possible approaches. Self management programmes may be delivered by a variety of people including health care professionals, clinical psychologists and...

An empowered person is able to actively participate in the management of their health. An empowered activated patient: Understands their health condition and its effect on their body. Feels able to participate in decision-making with their healthcare professionals...