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Supporting People Living with Long-term Conditions

Explore how healthcare professionals work in partnership with people with long-term conditions in this free online course.

9,841 enrolled on this course

Supporting people living with long-term conditions: a woman reads a book to a man
  • Duration

    3 weeks
  • Weekly study

    2 hours

There are some 15 million people in the UK currently living with a long-term condition and many more millions worldwide. Many are living with more than one long-term condition, which is impacting on both their physical and psychological wellbeing.

Self-management of long-term conditions

The focus of healthcare is rapidly changing both globally and across professional disciplines. Quality, patient-centred care requires an understanding of the evidence base for disease management, alongside collaborative care planning that includes the patient, their family, carers and the multidisciplinary team.

This approach will empower individuals with long-term conditions to self-manage their care and ensure that they are supported holistically. To enable this, effective partnership working with healthcare professionals is essential. How best can this be achieved?

Understand and support people with long-term conditions

This free online course enables healthcare professionals to better understand and support people living with long-term conditions.

Learning with academic experts and practitioners from King’s College London, as well as other healthcare professionals worldwide, you will explore some of the key issues such as:

  • How can long-term conditions be defined?
  • What are the social and economic impacts of living with a long-term condition?
  • What are the links between effective symptom management and living well?
  • How can individuals be supported in self-management?
  • Can telehealth/telemedicine aid those living with chronic conditions to remain independent?
  • How can inter-professional working educate and empower both patients and their families or carers to be actively engaged in decision making?
  • How does having a long-term condition affect a carer’s health and their relationships?
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Skip to 0 minutes and 11 seconds Hello, my name is Julie Bliss and I am a senior lecturer at the Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery at King’s College London and I’m delighted, on behalf of myself and my colleagues, to be able to tell you a little bit more about this MOOC focussing on long term conditions.

Skip to 0 minutes and 28 seconds The number of people living with a long term condition continues to increase and this MOOC focusses on how healthcare professionals can work in partnership with people with a long term condition and their families. In order to achieve this the MOOC focusses on collaborative care planning, telemedicine and living with a long term condition. Hello, my name is Irene Zeller and I am a tutor here at the Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery. Presently, there are some 15 million people in the UK living with a long term condition and many more millions that live with a long term condition worldwide.

Skip to 1 minute and 7 seconds Indeed, it is estimated that many are living with more than one long term condition and this is impacting on both their physical and psychological wellbeing. The focus of healthcare is rapidly changing both globally and across professional disciplines. This free online course enables healthcare professionals to better understand and support

Skip to 1 minute and 33 seconds people living with long term conditions exploring some of the key issues such as: How can long term conditions be defined? What are the social and economic impacts of living with long term conditions? What are the links between effective symptom management and living well? How can individuals be supported in self management? Can telehealth or telemedicine aid those living with chronic conditions to remain independent? How can inter-professional working help to educate both patients and their families and carers to be empowered to actively engage in decision making? How does having a long term condition affect a carer’s health and their relationships? The MOOC has been developed here within the Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery at King’s College London.

Skip to 2 minutes and 29 seconds The Faculty has been providing nursing education and involved in research having been founded by Florence Nightingale in 1860. We look forward to welcoming you as a participant in this MOOC and we hope that you find it beneficial. Helping you to think about people living with long term conditions and how to work in partnership with them.

What topics will you cover?

  • The definition and recognition of long term conditions, such as rheumatoid arthritis.
  • The impact of long term conditions on patients, carers and health services in a global context.
  • The links between long term conditions and mental health.
  • Requirements to foster psychological well-being when living with a long term condition.
  • The importance of patient-centred care, goal setting and shared decision making and how to support them.
  • Definitions of telehealth and telemedicine, and how they could be used to help patients with long term conditions.
  • Advantages, disadvantages and barriers to using telehealth with patients living with long term conditions.
  • The effects of long term conditions on families and carers.
  • Long term conditions in the context of a complex health system.

Learning on this course

On every step of the course you can meet other learners, share your ideas and join in with active discussions in the comments.

What will you achieve?

By the end of the course, you‘ll be able to...

  • Describe the potential impact of living with long term conditions for individuals and their families as well as the local, national and global context.
  • Explain the importance of patient-centred care, collaborative care planning, goal setting and shared decision making for people living with long term conditions and those that care for them.
  • Discuss how telehealth and telemedicine can be incorporated into care plans to empower and enhance self-management of long term conditions.
  • Describe the role of families, carers and organisations that support people living with long term conditions.

Who is the course for?

This course is designed for healthcare professionals, but will also be helpful for those with an academic or personal interest in supporting people living with long-term conditions.

Who will you learn with?

I have a long standing interest in the education and implementation of biological sciences in healthcare. I am particularly interested in the care and monitoring of patients receiving polypharmacy.

Who developed the course?

King's College London

King’s College London, established in 1829 and a founding college of the University of London, is one of the world’s leading research and teaching universities, based in the very heart of London.

Learning on FutureLearn

Your learning, your rules

  • Courses are split into weeks, activities, and steps to help you keep track of your learning
  • Learn through a mix of bite-sized videos, long- and short-form articles, audio, and practical activities
  • Stay motivated by using the Progress page to keep track of your step completion and assessment scores

Join a global classroom

  • Experience the power of social learning, and get inspired by an international network of learners
  • Share ideas with your peers and course educators on every step of the course
  • Join the conversation by reading, @ing, liking, bookmarking, and replying to comments from others

Map your progress

  • As you work through the course, use notifications and the Progress page to guide your learning
  • Whenever you’re ready, mark each step as complete, you’re in control
  • Complete 90% of course steps and all of the assessments to earn your certificate

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