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Living with a chronic disease
There are many sources of help and advice if you are suffering from a chronic health condition. Your doctor can put you in touch with local sources of support, such as training courses for people with your type of condition.
There are several things you can do to help you cope.
- Find out as much as you can about your illness, and how it is treated and managed.
- Find out as much as you can about your medication.
- Work together with your doctor and other health workers, make a real effort to explain your difficulties and concerns to them, and learn what you can from them to help you manage day by day.
- Eat well – work out a balanced, healthy diet and do what you can to improve your general health.
- Keep as active as you can, and ask your doctor for advice on how to include physical activity in your daily routine.
- Learn some relaxation techniques and put them into practice.
- Use community support groups, and find out what other help there might be.
- Learn how to manage the pain, frustration, and fatigue that are part of life with long-term health problems.
Read more: Useful contacts
Independent Living Centres (ILC)
Independent Living Centres are information centres located in every state and in the ACT. Each centre displays a comprehensive range of products and equipment to assist with daily living activities. Everybody is welcome to use the services of these centres. You can try out products and equipment before you buy what you need from commercial suppliers.
Occupational therapists (more information) answer telephone or email enquiries to Independent Living Centres and can usually provide the information you need. Most of these services are free.
Help to stay at home programs
People with a chronic disease can use the government’s ‘help to stay at home' programs to live independently in the community. These include Home and Community Care (HACC) Program (more information), Extended Aged Care at Home packages, and Community Aged Care packages. For information call 1800 200 422.
Read more: What programs are available?
Further help from your doctor
From 1 July 2005 items in the Medicare Benefits Schedule (more information) make it easier for doctors to manage the health care of patients with chronic medical conditions, including patients who need multidisciplinary (more information) care.
Doctors now have access to Medicare rebates for preparing and reviewing management plans for patients with chronic medical conditions. For patients requiring care from different types of health workers, doctors can also claim from Medicare for coordinating team care planning and review services.
These chronic disease management (CDM) Medicare items apply to treatment of people with asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, cancer, arthritis, diabetes, heart disease, mental illness and other chronic medical conditions.