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Semin Hear 2019; 40(01): 007-025
DOI: 10.1055/s-0038-1676780
Review Article
Thieme Medical Publishers 333 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10001, USA.

The Chronic Care Model and Chronic Condition Self-Management: An Introduction for Audiologists

Elizabeth Convery
1   HEARing Cooperative Research Centre, Melbourne, Australia
2   National Acoustic Laboratories, Sydney, Australia
3   School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Australia
,
Louise Hickson
1   HEARing Cooperative Research Centre, Melbourne, Australia
3   School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Australia
,
Gitte Keidser
1   HEARing Cooperative Research Centre, Melbourne, Australia
2   National Acoustic Laboratories, Sydney, Australia
3   School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Australia
,
Carly Meyer
1   HEARing Cooperative Research Centre, Melbourne, Australia
3   School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Australia
› Author Affiliations
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Publication History

Publication Date:
05 February 2019 (online)

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Abstract

Hearing health care is biomedically focused, device-centered, and clinician-led. There is emerging evidence that these characteristics—all of which are hallmarks of a health care system designed to address acute, rather than chronic, conditions—may contribute to low rates of help-seeking and hearing rehabilitation uptake among adults with hearing loss. In this review, we introduce audiologists to the Chronic Care Model, an organizational framework that describes best-practice clinical care for chronic conditions, and suggest that it may be a viable model for hearing health care to adopt. We further introduce the concept of chronic condition self-management, a key component of chronic care that refers to the knowledge and skills patients use to manage the effects of a chronic condition on all aspects of daily life. Drawing on the chronic condition evidence base, we demonstrate a link between the provision of effective self-management support and improved clinical outcomes and discuss validated methods with which clinicians can support the acquisition and application of self-management skills in their patients. We examine the extent to which elements of chronic condition self-management have been integrated into clinical practice in audiology and suggest directions for further research in this area.

Keywords

aural rehabilitation - Chronic Care Model - chronic condition - hearing loss - self-management