Introduction
Congratulations to all involved with this
very significant and relevant project.
I note with interest the purpose of the CIIP discussion paper, and I would be most interested to learn if it is ever discussed by any future ‘
policy makers’.
As a former healthcare professional I can advise that when I was working the term
‘chronic illness’ was used as medical terminology, and it was not limited to any specific group of people, or necessarily to those whose condition limited their strength and energy such as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), which was not an identified diagnosis when I was working.
The term
‘chronic illness’ was used in medicine to identify anyone, like myself, whose illness was profound, permanent, could not improve and was likely to deteriorate over time. I last worked in healthcare in 1984 but, as far as I now know, the terminology’s use in the medical sector hasn’t changed. ‘
Long term health condition’ is now also in common use, but has a different interpretation in medicine to ‘
chronic illness’ and tends to relate to long- term health conditions which are well controlled by medication, such as diabetes.
