Discuss the importance of patient empowerment when dealing with chronic diseases

Answer 1

To better ensure successful self-management practices, the process of patient empowerment is often employed between provider and patient. Patient empowerment is a method to help individuals increase their self-efficacy and take control of their health by obtaining the necessary skills and knowledge to make informed and educated behavioral decisions, with the ultimate goal for patients to better manage their disease. Patients are given the power to make informed decisions regarding their day-to-day management of symptoms without solely relying on the health care professional to provide detailed instructions on management tasks. In this way, the patient assumes responsibility and works in partnership with the health care provider. By putting the responsibility and power in the hands of the patient rather than the physician, proponents of empowerment argue that management of the disease will be most effective in the long run. This also has implications for health expenditures, as patient self-management is more cost effective than the traditional medical model in place where individuals may have multiple medical appointments.?