With the aging of the population and changes in lifestyle, chronic diseases have become a major public health issue threatening residents’ health. China has a large base of patients with chronic diseases such as cardio-cerebrovascular diseases and diabetes, but the standardized management rate is less than 50%. For patients with chronic diseases, self-management is a key link in controlling the condition and improving the quality of life. Currently, the system supporting self-management for patients with chronic diseases has initially taken shape, and its specific implementation paths and existing shortcomings are worthy of in-depth discussion.
So, through what methods is the current support for self-management of patients with chronic diseases carried out?
Health Monitoring and Tool Support
Primary medical and health institutions will establish health records for patients with chronic diseases. Through family doctor follow-ups, regular physical examinations and other methods, they will guide patients to master self-monitoring skills, such as standardized measurement methods of blood pressure and blood glucose, and advise patients to record monitoring data to form a “health diary”. At the same time, the popularization of intelligent monitoring tools has provided convenience for self-management. Intelligent bracelets, electronic blood pressure monitors, blood glucose meters and other devices can collect physiological indicators in real time. Some devices can also synchronize data to doctors through mini-programs to achieve early warning of abnormal situations.
Health Knowledge and Skill Popularization
Health departments popularize chronic disease prevention and control knowledge to patients through various forms such as community bulletin boards, health lectures, and online popular science articles. The content covers core points such as etiology cognition, medication standardization, dietary regulation, and exercise guidance. Personalized guidance plans are launched for different diseases. For example, explaining salt control skills to hypertensive patients and providing carbohydrate control methods to diabetic patients, helping patients establish scientific disease cognition and lay the capacity foundation for self-management.
Multi-Dimensional Intervention and Support Services
In terms of medication management, primary doctors will clearly inform patients of medication dosage, administration time and precautions. Some community health service centers also send medication reminders through text messages and intelligent devices to avoid patients missing or taking wrong medications. In terms of lifestyle intervention, communities organize age-appropriate sports activities such as square dancing and Tai Chi, promote scientific dietary patterns such as the “211 Diet Method”, and guide patients to develop healthy habits. In addition, online consulting platforms and patient communities provide social support for self-management. Patients can consult doctors for questions at any time, and also share experiences and encourage each other with fellow patients.
Primary Medical Care and Resource Guarantee
The national basic public health service project provides institutional support for the self-management of chronic diseases. Through contracted services, family doctor teams provide patients with personalized self-management plan formulation, regular re-examination and evaluation and other services. Some regions have introduced medical insurance preferential policies to reduce the cost burden of patients with chronic diseases seeking medical treatment and purchasing drugs at the grassroots level, and guide patients to actively participate in standardized management. At the same time, the integration of medical and prevention expert working groups stationed in communities to provide training and guidance for primary doctors, indirectly improving the ability to support patients’ self-management.
Although the current support system covers multiple dimensions, there are still many deficiencies and limitations in practical operation.
Insufficient Patient Health Literacy and Cognition
Some patients have a deep-rooted concept of “valuing treatment over prevention”, insufficient understanding of the importance of self-management, and problems such as arbitrarily stopping medication and irregular monitoring. Especially for the elderly group, the awareness rate of core chronic disease knowledge is low, and their ability to use intelligent monitoring tools is limited, making it difficult to effectively implement self-management measures. In addition, some patients have cognitive misunderstandings about chronic diseases, believing that they can only “resign themselves to fate” after getting sick, and lack the confidence and motivation for active management.
Insufficient Precision and Coverage of Support Services
Most of the existing health popularization content is general, and there is insufficient personalized service for patients of different ages, genders and educational levels. Support resources in rural and remote areas are particularly scarce. The number of professional chronic disease management personnel at the grassroots level is insufficient and their knowledge reserves are lacking, making it difficult to meet the personalized guidance needs of patients. The popularity of online support platforms is unbalanced. Due to insufficient digital literacy, elderly patients can hardly make full use of online consultation, data synchronization and other services.
Imperfect Information Sharing and Coordination Mechanism
Currently, the medical information system and the public health management system mostly operate independently. It is difficult to achieve interconnection and intercommunication of patients’ self-monitoring data, grassroots follow-up records, and superior hospital diagnosis and treatment information. This makes it impossible for doctors to fully grasp the patients’ self-management situation, difficult to accurately adjust the guidance plan, and also reduces the continuity and effectiveness of support services.
Insufficient Social and Family Support
The self-management of chronic diseases requires the collaborative cooperation of the family. However, some family members have insufficient understanding of the disease and cannot provide effective support for patients such as dietary matching and exercise companionship. At the same time, the prevention and control system of “government leadership, departmental cooperation, and social participation” has not been fully established. Social organizations, enterprises and other participants have insufficient efforts in supporting self-management, making it difficult to form an all-round support network.
Conclusion:
In summary, the current system supporting self-management for patients with chronic diseases has been initially constructed. Through various methods such as health monitoring, knowledge popularization, and grassroots guarantee, it provides multi-dimensional support services for patients. These measures help patients gradually master self-management skills and enhance their initiative in condition control. However, the system still has obvious shortcomings in patient cognitive guidance, service precision, information coordination and social support.
To improve the self-management level of patients with chronic diseases, it is necessary to further strengthen personalized popular science services, improve the allocation of grassroots support resources, break down information sharing barriers, and build a multi-dimensional collaborative support network. For patients, it is also crucial to actively improve health literacy and cooperate with management measures. Please be sure to carry out self-management under the guidance of professional medical personnel in combination with your own situation, and regularly return for visits to adjust the plan, so as to better coexist with chronic diseases and enjoy a high-quality life.
