Living a Healthy Life with Chronic Conditions

A health education program to help people with chronic conditions—such as arthritis, diabetes, heart disease, asthma, fibromyalgia, depression and others—manage their illness is available throughout British Columbia. The Chronic Disease Self-Management Program, “Living a Healthy Life with Chronic Conditions,” developed by the University of Victoria’s Centre on Aging, is free.

Trained and certified local volunteers, many living with chronic health conditions themselves, deliver the program in pairs once a week for six weeks. Groups take eight to 15 participants and each session lasts two-and-a-half hours.

The program offers practical tips on how to cope with the emotional and physical challenges of day-to-day living with a chronic condition. The sessions provide participants with skills for gaining more control over their illness and for boosting their self-confidence. The program, which receives funding from the BC Ministry of Health, is also open to friends, family and caregivers of people with chronic conditions.

For more information, or to register for one of the six-week courses, call the toll-free line at 1-866-902-3767 or visit the website at http://www.coag.uvic.ca/cdsmp.