PhD defence Valerie Hubertus Josephina Debie

Keywords: Personalized care, Burden of disease, Patient reported outcome measure, Assessment of burden of chronic condition tool

"Navigating through the landscape of chronic care: The Assessment of Burden of Chronic Conditions tool for person-centred care"

This dissertation focuses on how care for people with chronic diseases can be better tailored to their own needs. Increasing numbers of people are living with one or more long-term conditions, which can complicate daily life. Therefore, it is important that care looks not only at the disease, but at the whole person. Central to this research is a specific tool: the Assessment of Burden of Chronic Conditions (ABCC) tool. This tool helps patients and care providers to map out together how an individual feels physically, mentally, and socially. The results are displayed visually, making it easier to discuss important issues and set goals together. Prior to this dissertation, the ABCC-tool contained modules for COPD, asthma, type 2 diabetes mellitus, and heart failure. In this dissertation, the tool has been further developed for osteoarthritis, an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, and post-COVID. The research shows that the tool is reliable and can help make care more personal, clearer, and more effective.

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