| In spite of the current shift from acute to chronic care models, little is known about how patients perceive the changes to service delivery described by chronic care models. The purpose of this study was to examine the experiences and perceptions of patients with chronic diseases to fill the gap of lack of knowledge about the impact of these changes in chronic disease management (CDM). For this purpose, a mixed methods approach was used. The constructivist paradigm provided the conceptual framework for this study. A purposeful sampling strategy was used to identify 200 adults with at least one chronic disease. The Patient Assessment of Chronic Illness Care (PACIC) instrument was used to assess the perception of CDM for the quantitative component, and 11 individual interviews were performed for the qualitative component. Data were analyzed using inferential statistics for quantitative data and thematic analysis for qualitative data. The dependent variables were PACIC scores. The independent variables were characteristics of the sample and of the chronic conditions of the participants (e.g., type, number, etc.), which were recorded additionally to the PACIC survey. According to the quantitative results, educational level and race were found to significantly predict the perception of CDM. Importance of medication and religion beliefs were the most significant themes emerged from the qualitative interviews. Public health policy makers and health teams related to CDM can benefit from this study's results. By increasing their focus on the empowerment of the role of families, support groups, and effective medications in CDM, these practitioners can improve the quality of life of this population group and thus promote positive social change. |
