Promoting Self-Management of Chronic Health Conditions: Theories and Practice Doody's Expert Review Review Questionnaire ISBN: 9780190606145 ISBN-10: 0190606142 Copyright: 2018 Edition: 1st Editor: Martz, Erin Doody's Expert Review    Score: 100 Doody's Star Rating™ and Doody's Expert Review provide by Doody Enterprises, Inc. Reviewer: Patricia  Sciscione,  BSN, MSN, PhD, RN   (Monmouth University School of Nursing and Health Studies) Description Directed at healthcare professionals, this book describes methods to help individuals living with chronic health conditions to self-manage their treatment and lifestyle to achieve an enhanced quality of life. Purpose According to the author, the purpose is to help healthcare professionals better understand and facilitate self-management of chronic health conditions among individuals for whom they care. This aim has three parts: assist healthcare providers to promote self-management among their clients by reviewing theoretical models and research on empirically-based interventions; help healthcare providers understand what condition-specific knowledge should be taught to individuals to empower them to self-manage their conditions; and, finally, help them better understand the broad range of emotional reactions that can promote, or prevent, coping and the ability to self-manage chronic health conditions. These are worthy objectives, particularly since individuals living with chronic health conditions have to self-manage due to the current state of healthcare delivery and the time limitations of healthcare providers. Audience The intended audience is healthcare professionals who work with individuals who are living with chronic healthcare conditions. It also can be a valuable resource for academics who teach in programs that educate health professionals. The author has focused on research about coping and adapting to chronic health conditions for the past 20 years. All of the contributors are experts in their fields with experience in self-management and chronic conditions. Features The first two chapters of the book focus on justifying the need for the study of self-management and how this concept is defined on an individual level. The book is then organized into four parts Part I covers individual-level theories and interventions to promote self-management; Part II details current research about self-management of specific chronic health conditions; Part III describes how the use of innovative technology such as telemedicine and the internet can enhance self-management; and finally, Part IV addresses how healthcare professionals can improve self-management of chronic health conditions on a global level. Each chapter has an extensive literature review of studies related to the topic with results of the studies illustrated via graphs and tables. All chapters provide concise, yet comprehensive information to assist healthcare providers to promote evidence-based self-management techniques to clients living with chronic health conditions. One of the best aspects of the book is the way it makes connections between the individual-level theories and self-management techniques. The literature reviews are concise, but give a comprehensive picture of the body of knowledge. Each chapter proceeds in an organized manner to provide a concrete description of how self-management can be incorporated into the treatment regimen. The book also can be used as a textbook because of the evidence-based content and clear description of the self-management techniques. One shortcoming is that the chronic health conditions the book covers are general conditions such as "burn injury," "cancer," "cardiac," and "pain." Self-management for more specific conditions within these broad categories may vary. In addition, this book cannot be considered an all-inclusive guide, since there are many chronic conditions that it does not cover. Assessment This is the first comprehensive book about the self-management of chronic health conditions that I have had the opportunity to read. It is a welcome addition to the literature about managing chronic health conditions. Each chapter contains information that addresses each of the three components of the overall aim of the book. The book is clearly written for health professionals, but the self-management techniques can easily be adopted by clients with the assistance of their healthcare providers. This is a ground-breaker for teaching health professionals how to assist individuals with chronic health issues to self-manage their conditions and ultimately improve their quality of life. Review Questionnaire Range Question Score 1-10 Are the author's objectives met? 10 1-10 Rate the worthiness of those objectives. 10 1-5 Is this written at an appropriate level? 5 1-5 Is there significant duplication? (1=significant, 5=insignificant) 5 1-5 Are there significant omissions? (1=significant, 5=insignificant) 5 1-5 Rate the authority of the authors. 5 1-5 Are there sufficient illustrations? 5 1-5 Rate the pedagogic value of the illustrations. 5 1-5 Rate the print quality of the illustrations. 5 1-5 Are there sufficient references? 5 1-5 Rate the currency of the references. 5 1-5 Rate the pertinence of the references. 5 1-5 Rate the helpfulness of the index. 5 1-5 If important in this specialty, rate the physical appearance of the book 5 1-10 Is this a worthwhile contribution to the field? 10 1-10 If this is a 2nd or later edition, is this new edition needed? N/A ©2025 Doody Enterprises, Inc.