Supporting self-management: summarising evidence from systematic reviews

Author(s)

NATIONAL VOICES

Publisher(s):

National Voices

Publication year:

2014

This booklet sets out research findings of the benefits of supporting people to self-manage. It also sets out the evidence for the impact of self-management education for patients, proactive telephone and psychosocial support, home-based self-monitoring and simplified dosing strategies and information. Self-management includes all the actions taken by people to recognise, treat and manage their own healthcare independently of or in partnership with the healthcare system. People feel more confident and engaged when they are encouraged to self-manage by professionals, therefore supporting self-management is key to prioritising person-centred care. Drawing on the findings from 228 systematic reviews, the paper concludes that the top three things that might most usefully be invested in are disease specific, generic and on-line self-management courses, proactive telephone support and self monitoring of symptoms and vital signs. (Edited publisher abstract)