Assignment task:
Within professional communities (i.e. medical, public health, academic, and policy), there is a large degree of variation in the use of the term chronic disease. For example, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) classify the following as chronic diseases: heart disease, stroke, cancer, type 2 diabetes, obesity, and arthritis. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services have a more extensive list of 19 chronic conditions that includes Alzheimer's disease, depression, and HIV, to name a few. This difference, within the Department of Health and Human Services alone, although not surprising to those in the field, has the potential to create confusion and misunderstanding when speaking in generalities about the impact of chronic disease, the cost of chronic disease, and overall measures to reduce chronic disease (Berne & Howard, 2016).
1. What is your understanding of the role family play in helping and supporting a family member with a chronic illness?
2. What are the different stages a family goes through when dealing with a family member who has chronic disease or life altering accident (example: spinal cord injury)?
3. As health care educators and professionals what role can we play in assisting families to their new normal?