Discussion Paper on the Concept of Chronicity

Diseases fall into different categories based on various factors such as progeny, cause, or part of the body affected. Chronic illness is a type of conditions that persist in the body of the patient over a long time. In some cases, the chronic diseases may be successfully treated if identified in their early stages but late diagnosis makes them weaken the immune system which increases vulnerability to opportunistic infections or even death (Dahlin, Coyne, & Ferrell, 2016). In the field of health, chronicity is a general term that refers to the state whereby a disease becomes chronic, which means it stays in the body for a long time or sometimes presenting reduced severity and severe relapse following a period of treatment. Chronicity of diseases is associated with multiple factors including the immunity of a patient, lifestyle, and environmental factors which influence physiologic processes in the body (Matzo & Sherman, 2015). Chronicity leads to adverse impairment of the bodys systems, the devastation of an individuals social life and high economic challenges due to costly healthcare interventions needed to control the diseases s. Increased cases of poor dietary habits, disease mutations, and sedentary lifestyle are among the many factors that are projected to lead to increased chronic illnesses, especially in developing countries.

Management of chronicity is a complicated process that requires a team of proactive health care professionals that work within an integrated healthcare delivery system. It involves managing both the persistent diseases and social inclinations of the patients. From a general perspective, there are new developments in the management of chronicity especially in the developed countries, but developing countries still have to contend with challenges of chronic illnesses (Matzo & Sherman, 2015). Some of the causes of these difficulties in dealing with chronicity in the developing world include inadequate resources, inefficient healthcare systems, insufficient support services and low resilience (Dahlin, Coyne, & Ferrell, 2016). The most common chronic diseases which pose a serious health concern include diabetes, hypertension, stroke and its associated cardio vascular conditions. In most cases, health approaches aimed at managing the chronicity of chronic illnesses involve a comprehensive exploration of the challenges such as access to screening services for risk factors, provision of expert medical care and regular monitoring of individual health conditions. According to Yasin et al. (2012), the chronicity of chronic illnesses implies that the prevention or management approaches used is majorly context dependent.

Chronicity and how Care Providers/Patients View It

The term chronicity in healthcare means the presence of a disease in the body of a patient for a long time or recurrence of the same disease in the patient even after periods of treatment (Lubkin & Larsen, 2006). Based on this definition, it is important to draw the analogy that chronic illness refers to the presence, accumulation, or latency of disease in the body of a patient which leads to impairments of the body systems. The chronic illness can be recurrent in the sense that medication only results in temporary relief after which they relapse (Maimela et al., 2015). For instance, rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic illness that results in swelling of joints and body organs. Painful and debilitating episodes that occur over a long time characterize it. Chronic diseases lead to long term health deterioration and increase possibilities of death hence patients experience critical challenges in the recovery process. Patients admitted with chronic diseases in health facilities present emotional burden and reduced value perception about the quality of life. If these emotions are not well managed through expert psychiatric assistance, adopted ways of managing the chronic disease may prove less effective thus undermining the need for life-sustaining medication (Maimela et al., 2015).

Most of the patients suffering from chronic illnesses struggle with the pain that the disease causes, fear of death resulting from either the illnesses of associated opportunistic diseases and depression (Maimela et al., 2015). Based on these occurrences, advanced practice registered nurses perceive that response to chronic illnesses require adequate training to ensure that patients suffering from chronic diseases are given professional help that leads them to experience the most efficient balance between their disease and accompanying psychological distress (Turner & Kelly, 2000). Practitioners have to contend with a situation in which despite scientific progress in the management of chronic illnesses, patients still do not have access to timely diagnosis or screening thus posing a challenge for their management in advanced stages. Practitioners often recommend to the public to embrace regular checkups and adherence to primary treatments aimed at reducing vulnerability to chronic illnesses.

Many patients often perceive chronic diseases as indications of possible death. For instance being diagnosed with cancer or diabetes in advanced stages results in emotional response as the patient knows that any medical procedures used would merely serve to prolong their lives and reduce the progress of the illness (Martin & Peterson, 2009). There are various social constructions that patients develop in trying to understand their conditions. Despite the fact that the process of constructing experiences arising from chronic illnesses is highly personal and dependent on social inclinations, most people would naturally attribute them to various social meanings. For instance, when patients undergo an extended period of immobility or dependence on assistance they start to assign meanings such as being cursed, being unworthy of living, and many other thoughts that may lead to further health deterioration (Martin & Peterson, 2009). These experiences reflect the importance of Parsons sick role in understanding the construction of an illness. The advanced practice registered nurses and other care givers need to adequately understand the unique struggles that patients with chronic diseases undergo to help them in regulating the condition.

Chronicity imposes a burden on the health care systems since advanced practice registered nurses have to deal with the changing situations of the patients, concern from family members as well as their social needs of the sick. Despite the fact that the role of any adequate nursing care is to provide a conducive healing environment, achieving such a requirement results in emotional distress among advanced practice registered nurses (Potter, Perry, Stockert & Hall, 2016). For instance, the practitioners face the problem of enhancing the patients emotional and physical stability yet the patients have reduced value perceptions about life which undermine self-care initiatives (Maimela et al., 2015). Whereas the traditional healthcare system just identifies the sick, diagnoses their illnesses, prescribe appropriate treatments and treats possible cases, chronic diseases require more than this. Chronically ill patients are at high risk of health deterioration since they grapple with multiple issues including the pain, memories of unfulfilled ambitions, economic losses, broken social ties, and death. Maintaining a balance of all these factors over an individuals lifetime complicates need for practitioners to manage the chronic conditions.

How People Go About Adjusting To a Chronic Illness

During the first stages of being diagnosed with chronic diseases, patients undergo an episode of shock, denial, numbness, disorientation and severe emotional pain. Therefore, dealing with chronic illnesses has both medical and psychological imperatives that both the patient and healthcare system must uphold for positive outcomes (Maimela et al., 2015). For instance, the reality of living with a long term infection causes an emotional disorganization that inevitably undermines medications which are intended to prolong an individuals health. Physical and emotional make patients vulnerable to harmful activities that strain self-interventions necessary in promoting good health for chronically ill people (Turner & Kelly, 2000).

The fact that chronic illnesses can be well managed to prolong the life of a patient implies the need for effective control of accompanying emotional distress. Therefore, the role of advanced practice registered nurses and family is to orient the patients emotions towards positive life activities and deviate them from negative feelings. On the other hand, the patients have first to accept their conditions. Through psychiatric support, patients adjust their aspirations, lifestyle, and emotions to cope with chronic illnesses. Through proactive self-care and adequate nursing support, initial grief is only a stage in the acceptance of the disease but not necessarily contribute to adverse health complications.

There are multiple self-care and external assistance that chronic patients embrace in coping with their conditions. For instance, they appreciate the roles of medical practitioners, adhere strictly to diets, avoid a sedentary lifestyle and embrace familial support. In inspiring hope, the patients develop resilience to tolerate and express their emotions (Jimet al., 2006). In essence, they do not merely develop positive thinking but instead get over their feelings through openly sharing with close friends and relatives. In reality, patients who successfully cope with chronic illnesses discuss their uncertainties, fears, and anxieties about their life.

Another mechanism that chronic patients use to cope with their conditions is adherence to prescribed medications, eating healthy diets, strengthening their social ties and support networks. Support systems include other people with similar illnesses or medical practitioners such as psychiatrists who provide emotional assistance whenever the sick develop negative feelings. Despite the fact that adherence to a healthy diet may not be a guarantee of better life, it sustains the efficacy of medical interventions. Seeking appropriate cognitive therapy is a coping mechanism through which patients attain long term health stability (Jimet al., 2006). Patients also learn only to manage the aspects of their health that are within their control while seeking external assistance in cases where they are unable to cope.

How To Know If a Client/Family is Adjusting to Chronic Illness and Behaviors That Reflect Effective Coping or Ineffective Coping

Multiple considerations apply in ascertaining whether or not a chronically ill patient is dealing with his or her conditions. Active coping manifest in the sick persons adherence to prescribed lifestyle, diet and medication. They also take an active role in nursing procedures by sharing their feelings with physicians and advance practice registered nurses (Jimet al., 2006). The terminally ill people also embrace the Pollyanna approach which involves becoming cheerful through listening to encouraging stories and reading motivational texts. This lifestyle deviates the attention of the patients from their deadly diseases and inspires them to develop a positive perception of their conditions. They also embrace close family members as an immediate source of physical and emotional support.

Parents and siblings adopt a relationship-focused coping which aims at maintaining the quality of relationship with the sick family member. For instance, when the patient experiences challenges due to their health condition such as the inability to walk, then any nearby family member actively helps them. In dealing with the sick, the family members...