The journal of nutrition, health & aging
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J Nutr Health Aging · Dec 2008
Improving knowledge transfer on chronic respiratory diseases: a Canadian perspective. How to translate recent advances in respiratory diseases into day-to-day care.
Chronic diseases represent an increasing burden for health care systems. Ongoing research efforts provide regularly new scientific evidence on how optimize current medical care. In regard to respiratory diseases, as for other health problems, optimal management of these conditions has been summarized in recent consensus guidelines but implementation of these recommendations is still poor. Not only are the key messages of such guidelines often unknown to the practitioner and the patient but even when it is, they are often insufficiently integrated into current care, often related to behavioral, organizational and communication barriers. ⋯ Although the human and socio-economical burden of chronic diseases is still increasing, their current management is still often deficient. In the recent decades, Practice Guidelines have been developed to guide Practitioners towards optimal care, but implementation of these Guides is still poor. Recent Canadian and International initiatives have proposed valid models to help address current care gaps.