Chronic conditions such as arthritis, heart disease, and Parkinson disease are the principal cause of all sickness and death in the United States and represent the vast majority of health care expenditures. Although we now live in a world dominated by chronic conditions, health care is still organized around a commitment to treating acute illnesses. Meeting the Challenge of Chronic Illness examines current deficiencies in chronic illness care and explores ways to improve it. Addressing the challenges of shifting from the primacy of acute illnesses to the predominance of chronic conditions, the authors identify the components necessary to reorganize and reform health care: properly prepared health care workers; involved patients and families; appropriate use of new technologies, especially information systems; an appropriate role for prevention; and the creation of funding approaches that will provide necessary incentives. This book calls on policy makers, health care providers, and educators to address one of the greatest challenges facing the health care system.

This book will inspire hope and show how to take positive action after a disability or illness strikes the family.

ARTHRITIS, HEART DISEASE, DIABETES, CROHNS, COLITIS, SCLERODERMA, LUPUS, CHRONIC FATIGUE OR THE MANY OTHER CHRONIC DISEASES raise common concerns that are discussed in this extremely user-friendly book. Audrey shares her inspiring story of living with chronic illness & all she has learned as a medical psychotherapist & marriage counselor. Choosing a doctor, dealing with pain, travel, work, getting up in the morning, handling recurrences, finding a spouse, relationships, sexual matters, embarrassment, coping, dealing with stress, being a good visitor & thoughts on happiness comprise some of the wide range of topics making this book a must for anyone living with a chronic illness, their loved ones, or professionals working with them. Extensive information on readings, support groups, & chapters on the family perspective written by Audrey's husband who is a psychologist are also included. The book will be available in the spring. For advanced autographed orders, send $16 plus $3.00 postage & handling to: Center for Coping with Chronic Illness, 7466 Pebble Lane, West Bloomfield, MI 48322. E-mail: [email protected]. Web page: http://www.chronicillness.com. Satisfaction guaranteed or purchase price refunded. Call Audrey at (248) 626-6960 or FAX: (248) 626-1379 for more information or if your group is interested in sharing in proceeds from the sale.

In the United States, chronic diseases currently account for 70 percent of all deaths, and close to 48 million Americans report a disability related to a chronic condition. Today, about one in four Americans have multiple diseases and the prevalence and burden of chronic disease in the elderly and racial/ethnic minorities are notably disproportionate. Chronic disease has now emerged as a major public health problem and it threatens not only population health, but our social and economic welfare. Living Well with Chronic Disease identifies the population-based public health actions that can help reduce disability and improve functioning and quality of life among individuals who are at risk of developing a chronic disease and those with one or more diseases. The book recommends that all major federally funded programmatic and research initiatives in health include an evaluation on health-related quality of life and functional status. Also, the book recommends increasing support for implementation research on how to disseminate effective longterm lifestyle interventions in community-based settings that improve living well with chronic disease. Living Well with Chronic Disease uses three frameworks and considers diseases such as heart disease and stroke, diabetes, depression, and respiratory problems. The book's recommendations will inform policy makers concerned with health reform in public- and private-sectors and also managers of communitybased and public-health intervention programs, private and public research funders, and patients living with one or more chronic conditions.

While serious illness, injury, or disability can physically alter the course of your life, it can also cause great emotional upheaval. It is not uncommon to feel anger, frustration, grief, fear, and denial as you try to accept a new way of living. As you lose your ability to do things you once considered routine, you may even feel that you are losing your self-worth, that your physical condition is threatening your identity. Through a step-by-step process designed to show that real healing has little to do with the state of the physical body, Noble Topf offers a compassionate and inspirational message to anyone whose sense of self is threatened by physical limitations.

This Open Access book highlights the ethical issues and dilemmas that arise in the practice of public health. It is also a tool to support instruction, debate, and dialogue regarding public health ethics. Although the practice of public health has always included consideration of ethical issues, the field of public health ethics as a discipline is a relatively new and emerging area. There are few practical training resources for public health practitioners, especially resources which include discussion of realistic cases which are likely to arise in the practice of public health. This work discusses these issues on a case to case basis and helps create awareness and understanding of the ethics of public health care. The main audience for the casebook is public health practitioners, including front-line workers, field epidemiology trainers and trainees, managers, planners, and decision makers who have an interest in learning about how to integrate ethical analysis into their day to day public health practice. The casebook is also useful to schools of public health and public health students as well as to academic ethicists who can use the book to teach public health ethics and distinguish it from clinical and research ethics.