A view down under: Self-management initiatives and patient education in Australia

The growing burden of chronic disease and the current nature of healthcare systems which are structurally ill-equipped to cater to the complex needs of patients with chronic conditions has led to governments and healthcare providers seeking alternative ways to improve patients own capacity to actively self-manage their chronic condition. In Australia, there has been a focus on patient education and self-management programs within the healthcare system to achieve this. These programs aim to empower patients through providing information and teaching skills and techniques to improve self-care and doctor-patient interaction with the ultimate goal of improving quality of life. Patient education and self-management programs have been supported through several national government initiatives and implemented within the healthcare setting. This paper describes the current position of patient education and self-management within the Australian healthcare system. It further describes a new collaboration project between an Australian and a German research team which aims at translating an assessment questionnaire used in Australia for the evaluation of self-management programs, the 'Health Education Impact Questionnaire' ('heiQ'); this instrument is expected to be of significant use in the German rehabilitative system.