A job description for the effective self-management of a long-term condition: experiences of living with difficult...

This paper concerns a study exploring the salience of a 'job description' for the effective self-management of a long-term condition to the experiences of a group of women living with difficult asthma. This is a life-threatening disease. It has been claimed that sufferers are a marginalised, misunderstood, mistreated and vulnerable group. The method involved secondary analysis of focus group data. The job description has been developed as a tool to enable nurses to facilitate and support effective self-management. This study was designed to examine the application of this tool to a particular case. Long-term conditions are a growing feature of the developed world and are strongly implicated in health inequalities. They are more prevalent in socially and economically disadvantaged populations and therefore add further burden to already vulnerable people. Effective self-management is critical to adapting and adjusting to the experience of a long-term condition and nurses have a responsibility to promote this process.