Electronic Personal Health Records That Promote Self-Management in Chronic Illness

• Published in: Online journal of issues in nursing 2010-09, Vol.15 (3), p.1B
• Main Authors: Mitchell, Beverly, Begoray, Deborah
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 1091-3734; 1091-3734
• DOI: 10.3912/OJIN.Vol15No03PPT01

Adequate health literacy is critical for patients charged with the responsibility of self-managing chronic conditions, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). In COPD, complex care demands require patients to be able to access, comprehend, and evaluate multiple sources of health information. Self-management education programs aim to empower patients by providing information and by teaching skills that can improve self-care and enable patients to live fuller and more functional lives. A growing trend in self-management is to offer patients access to their health information through the use of electronic personal health records (PHRs). However, there needs to be a match between patients’ health literacy levels and the PHR software used in electronic PHRs to effectively promote self-management. In this article the authors use COPD as an example of a chronic illness that can be self-managed through the use of electronic PHRs. They begin by providing overviews of COPD management, self-management, health literacy, and the use of electronic personal healthrecords as self-management tools. Then they draw upon Nutbeam’s health literacy framework to guide healthcare providers in matching a patient’s health literacy level with a software program appropriate for a particular patient.