[Fusing empowerment concept into patient-centered collaborative care model]

Chronic diseases are incurable, long-term illnesses. To improve quality of life, patients with chronic diseases must adjust their own personal lifestyle to cope with their diseases and eventually learn to achieve a balance between disease control and daily life. Therefore, self-management necessarily plays a key role in chronic disease management. Different from physician-centered healthcare, the self-management practiced by chronic disease patients is more patient-centered with a greater emphasis on active patient participation. The main goal of this article is to elucidate the essence of the empowerment concept. An example of diabetes care, this article introduces a detailed five-step application as a basic model for incorporating the empowerment concept into the healthcare of patients with chronic disease. The author suggests that healthcare providers apply the empowerment model in clinical practice to assist patients to maintain an optimal balance between their health status and personal lives.