Two decades of insider research: what we know and don't know about chronic illness experience

Chronic illness in a general sense and certain chronic diseases in particular have attracted considerable attention from qualitative researchers in nursing as well as in other health and social sciences. This review critically examines the body of available research about the experience of living with a chronic illness from an "insider" perspective. From this foundation the authors interpret the manner in which this large body of writing both contributes to and complicates our theoretical understanding of what it is like to live with a chronic disease. In so doing they illuminate themes within the knowledge that can be gleaned from qualitative inquiry into the chronic illness experience, as well as inherent limitations that must be taken into consideration when applying such knowledge to practice.