The Chronic Care Model

The care for a patient with an acute illness is handled differently than a patient with a chronic illness. Acute illnesses are severe and sudden, while chronic illnesses are long term and cannot be prevented by vaccines or cured by medications (Acute Care). The care that a nurse gives to a patient with an acute illness is immediate and usually short term. This care involves treating the critical concerns and symptoms that the patient is displaying. The care that a nurse gives to a patient with a chronic illness are long-term treatments. This care involves preventing the condition from getting worse. For example, if a patient has diabetes, you try to keep their blood sugar within a certain range and not get too high or too low. Nurses are trying to prevent the condition from getting worse.

The model consists of patient, provider, and system level interventions. The 6 concepts of the model are: organizational support, clinical information systems, delivery system design, decision support, self-management support, and community resources. With all the different factors that go into the model the goal of this is to assist the patient in making a change in their lifestyle and overall health.

I believe the first thing to do while treating a patient with a chronic illness is to find out why that patient got to the point of chronic illness. Many people with chronic illnesses have a lot of stress in their life. This stress causes them to make certain lifestyle choices that are slowly deteriorating their health. These lifestyle choices can be very hard to change and only get worse. Although not all chronic diseases are caused by lifestyle choices, that is the most common