Persuasive Essay On Chronic Disease

Kate is a 70 year old Australian woman, and has osteoarthritis on her left hip. Although she takes medication which is NSAIDs, she often suffers from chronic pain. Her mobility is limited and she can walk short distance only. She always uses a car driven by her husband or transportation when she goes out. When the pain becomes severe, she visits to a doctor, but does not participate in any support programs. She has supportive carers, including her husband, children, and several friends. Kate and her carers do not know about osteoarthritis very much.
Osteoarthritis is the most common chronic condition of the joints, which mainly occurs in knees, hips, lower back and neck. When the cartilage or cushion between joints breaks down, this leads
to pain, swallowing, and poor mobility. 8% of Australians suffer from osteoarthritis and 2 out of 3 patients are female. Patients with osteoarthritis are more likely to have poor health in Australia.
Australian National Chronic Disease Strategy Document provides a framework of national direction to promote health of patients with chronic disease, including asthma, cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and arthritis.
It is a countrywide agenda on the health of Australians and the health care system. There are six objectives to prevent the development of and minimise the impact of chronic disease, and enhance the quality of life by promoting health. These objectives clearly link to its seven principles. In addition, there are four action areas to achieve the objective, which are prevention across the continuum, early detection and early treatment, integration and continuity of prevention and care, and self-management. The action area of self-management refers to improving the ability of patients to manage chronic condition by themselves through continuing prevention and care. I thought self-management is the most appropriate action area for Kate. This is because I assessed she has sufficient an ability to manage osteoarthritis and has supportive carers. There are also effective but unused community programs in NSW. If she participates in the strategy to develop her self-management, she can improve her quality of life and can boost her
confidence.
It is recommended that the participation in an education program is the most effective strategy to develop her self-management, and this participation requires Kate as well as her carers. Arthritis and osteoarthritis NSW, for example, provides learning opportunities to develop self-management, including workshop and online education for the patients and their carers. This program definitely improves the current her health condition by developing self-management.