Public Health and Health Promotion
 

Long Term Conditions

Staff : Introduction

The prevalence of long term conditions is predicted to rise, and the current systems supporting people with LTCs are not financially viable or broad enough in scope to support all their needs. People living with a LTC need to be supported to self manage in order to improve their physical and mental well being and reduce their reliance on traditional models of care. This requires whole system input where all partners from health care, social care, and the independent and voluntary organisations all have an equal part to play and contribution to make. The self care public page sets out the definitions and aspirations for self care etc (link back to that section).

The Evidence

A review of over 550 studies from the UK and internationally suggests it is worthwhile to support self management, in particular through focussing on behaviour change and supporting self-efficacy. The totality of the evidence suggests that supporting self management can have benefits for people’s attitudes and behaviours, quality of life, clinical symptoms and use of healthcare resources. Supporting self management has the potential to alleviate pressure on health and social care services caused by workforce shortages, rising demand for services, population increases and budgetary constraints. Different clinical conditions require varying approaches to support self management and the different types of support are all components of the jigsaw needed to encourage people living with a LTC in North Somerset to self manage and for staff to support their self care needs. (reference - “Evidence: Helping people help themselves” Dr Debra de Silva, The Health Foundation, May 2011.)

Policy Context

The drive for personalised care planning for those living with a long term condition was introduced in the 2009/10 Operating Framework as a means to supporting people to live well with their condition and reduce avoidable emergency admissions. This theme continued into 2010/11 and in 2011/12 the Operating Framework challenges us to ensure people living with a long term condition are supported with choice in their care of their long term condition. The new Performance Framework for the NHS will measure people who feel supported to manage their condition using the annual GP Survey. It is through this measure that improvement in delivering personalised care planning through the use of self management plans, information and education in North Somerset will be determined.

The next sections set out information about the benefits of self care for all involved and the personalised care planning process. Material that supports individuals’ learning and application of personalised care planning follows.