Chronic illness and wellbeing: using nursing practice to foster resillence as resistance

Chronic non-communicable diseases such as heart disease, cancer and diabetes are the biggest killers worldwide. Chronic conditions include heart disease, stroke, diabetes, cancer, chronic respiratory disease and are often comorbid with mental illness. Over 60 years ago, the British Medical Journal reported an association between mental illness and poor physical health (Philips, 1934). Comorbid mental illness and physical illness incrementally worsens health compared with mental illness alone or any of the chronic non-communicable diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, cancers, chronic respiratory diseases and diabetes alone. This paper aims to open the dialogue related to optimising, through nursing intervention, a patient's self-righting and self-management factors in the context of comorbid chronic conditions such as heart disease, stroke, diabetes, cancer, chronic respiratory disease, with mental illness. Self-management and self-righting capabilities are now being considered integral to reducing the negative impact of chronic conditions such as mental illness. Personal characteristics associated with resilience comprise optimism, an active or adaptable coping style and the ability to elicit social support. Existing resilience factors can be assessed for by nurses and optimised through interventions when patients with chronic conditions are in care. Representing over 70% of the global health workforce, nurses are well positioned to enact such practice enhancements to facilitate better outcomes for patients.