Adoption of self-management interventions for prevention and care

Seventy-five percent of health care costs can be attributed to chronic diseases, making prevention and management imperative. Collaborative patient self-management in primary care is efficacious in reducing symptoms and increasing quality of life. In this article, the authors argue that self-management interventions span the continuum of prevention and disease management. Self-management interventions rest on a foundation of 5 core actions: (1) activate motivation to change, (2) apply domain-specific information from education and self-monitoring, (3) develop skills, (4) acquire environmental resources, and (5) build social support. Several delivery vehicles are described and evaluated in terms of diffusion and cost-containment goals.