Personalised care for long-term conditions

 Living with multiple conditions

Mary, aged 76, has diabetes, arthritis, and macular degeneration, and she’s feeling low. She recently lost her husband, Frank, who died after a long period of dementia. She cared for him devotedly for many years, but this occupied most of her time and energy and took a heavy toll on her health and wellbeing.

Mary’s GP reminds her to attend the local diabetes clinic. The specialist nurses are concerned about her test results and urge her to try to eat a healthier diet and take more exercise. Mary nods, but in her heart knows that this advice will be difficult to follow. Her knees are painful, her eyesight is deteriorating, the local shops don’t sell much in the way of healthy food, and she doesn’t feel confident to travel far on her own.

As populations age, increasing numbers of people live with ...