Understanding the Impact of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and Intervening to Improve Self-Management in the Context of Multi-morbidity

摘要

Though the whole (multi-morbidity) is more than the sum of the parts (co-morbidities), it is sometimes necessary to consider a specific index condition during patient-provider consultations. The index disease prioritised by patients depends on which chronic health condition is predominant in their lives at a given point of time. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) was the index condition studied in the context, or backdrop, of multi-morbidity in this thesis.