The Development of Self-Management in Young People with Chronic Conditions: A Transitional Process

This chapter opens by discussing the developmental context that affects the take-up of self-management in young people with chronic conditions during their journey to adulthood. Young people face specific challenges when it comes to learning self-management skills. Several frameworks for self-management in young people have tried to capture these challenges related to medical, emotional and role management. The required tasks and skills for learning to self-manage are rooted in social learning theories. The theoretical notions that underly the concept of self-management (such as self-determination, self-regulation, and self-efficacy) help inform the development of effective interventions. We then discuss the modifiable and non-modifiable factors that influence the development of self-management in young people related to the individual, family, community, healthcare system level and to the chronic condition itself. The chapter concludes with a general typology of self-management interventions and a discussion of the evaluation of these, including the use of outcome measures.