Enhancing the coordination and quality of care for chronically ill patients is a challenge across health care systems. In Germany, following a 2002 reform, physician-based and patient-centered disease-management programs (DMPs) were implemented in a nationwide rollout. These programs are characterized by information technology support, the central role of a designated doctor in ambulatory care,...

BACKGROUND The objective of this article is to describe the design of a study to evaluate the clinical and economic effects of a Disease Management model on functional health, quality of care and quality of life of persons living in homes for the elderly. METHODS This study concerns a cluster randomized controlled clinical trial among five intervention homes and five usual care homes in the N...

OBJECTIVE To assess the process, causes and outcomes of retirement because of ill-health in NHS staff in Scotland. Particular areas to be investigated include the involvement of occupational health services, access to rehabilitation and redeployment, current health, whether working again and to identify predictors of re-employment. METHOD An ill-health retirement (IHR) questionnaire was maile...

People often feel awkward and ill at ease when faced with the opportunity for communication at the end of life, thus the overall theme for the articles in this special issue is the creation of more awareness and knowledge regarding the depth, breadth, and importance of current research exploring family communication at the end of life. This introductory essay attempts to accomplish the followin...

ID: 751 Compassionate Care: A Focus on Dying Well Author Information: Authors List: Presenting Author: Gayle McGlory Additional Author: JoAnn Goodie Presenting Author: Gayle McGlory Address: 5418 Linden Grove Court Sugar Land, TX 77479 USA Ph: 713-56605704 Fax: Email: [email protected] Institution: Harris County Hospital District Additional Author: JoAnn Goodie Address: 1504 Taub Loop Houst...

Little is known about the self-care practices of chronically ill African Americans or how lack of access to health care affects self-care. Results from a qualitative interview study of 167 African Americans who had one or more chronic illnesses found that self-care practices were culturally based, and the insured reported more extensive programs of self-care. Those who had some form of health i...

BACKGROUND In Finland, public health care is the responsibility of primary health care centres, which render a wide range of community level preventive, curative and rehabilitative medical care. Since 1990's, medical studies have involved early familiarization of medical students with general practice from the beginning of the studies, as this pre-clinical familiarisation helps medical students...

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES We aimed to investigate whether e-health is equal to or better than usual face-to-face care with regard to outcomes on health, quality of life, patient satisfaction and costs. Therefore, we systematically reviewed the literature on e-health in chronically ill patients compared with or as an addition to usual care. BACKGROUND Interactive websites on internet are increasingl...

PURPOSE The research aim was to identify demographic characteristics, chronic diseases, and unhealthy behaviors predicting ill health retirement in South Korea. METHODS Data were collected from 15,407 individuals enrolled in the first through the fifth phases of the Korea Health Panel Survey (2008-2012) using structured questionnaires examining retirement, morbidities, and health-related beha...