Chronic Illness - Coping

Website provides information about self-management of chronic disease as well as links to community resources.

Website provides information about workshops and self-management programs for people living with chronic conditions in the Mississauga/Halton region.

Healthy Change: Chronic Condition Self-Management is a six-week workshop for people living in the Northern Ontario regions. It helps people living with chronic or long-term health conditions gain confidence in managing better their symptoms and their daily life. The three main areas covered are coping with a chronic condition, pain management and diabetes. All participants must pre-register for a workshop.

This inspirational book is for anyone interested in coping with a chronic illness from a spiritual perspective. It can be helpful in understanding the role of spirituality and prayer in overcoming challenges of living with a chronic illness. The author of the book, who has been living with Parkinson's disease, adds her personal experiences for those who have been recently diagnosed with a chronic illness.

This webpage provides educational material for people living with kidney disease in the form of easily readable manual in English, French, Chinese, Italian, and Punjabi. The manual contains information on major topics such as the causes of chronic kidney diseases (CKD), dialysis, transplantation,  well-being and leisure, work, money and legal matters, self-management and supports. Video version of the manual Living with Kidney Disease is available from the web page.

This document is intended as an in-depth guide for persons living with HIV. It provides comprehensive information concerning healthy living, accessing treatments, the treatment process, emotional health, sexual health, and even getting access to adequate housing.

This is a valuable resource for anyone suffering from a chronic illness who is interested in finding an online support group. The site provides access to online support groups for a variety of chronic illnesses and medical conditions, including Alzheimer's, stroke, aphasia, brain injury and many others. Participants have a forum to share their personal stories and experiences related to physical and emotional effects of diseases, therapies, use of medications and more.

 This resource explains new research and treatments in clear, simple language. People living with rheumatoid arthritis will learn how to be proactive patients, how to stretch daily to reduce pain and increase flexibility, and how to choose from the many over-the-counter drugs and supplements to enhance their therapy.

This resource will be useful to anyone who wants to reach their full potential while living with a chronic illness. It provides motivational and inspirational tips and strategies for helping you to overcome obstacles, and  to cope with the changes that your chronic illness has brought to your life.

This resource helps to focus on building a meaningful life that contains illness as opposed to a life of frustration and fear. It is designed for patients in at all stages of the chronic illness journey and it will also be useful to caregivers and loved ones. The book gives practical advice on how to deal with your employer, insurance company and other people who think that you don't look sick.

While asthma can't be cured, it can be treated and controlled so that your child can enjoy a healthier, more active life. In this comprehensive guide, the experts at the top-ranked children's hospital in the United States clearly explain what asthma is and how parents, caregivers, and young patients can manage it successfully.

This extensively revised and rewritten new edition addresses available treatment of the symptoms of ALS, ways of improving an individual's quality of life and coping strategies for families and caregivers. It includes an up-to-date information about recently developed approaches to treating ALS symptoms and the new guidelines developed by the American Academy of Neurology for patients with ALS.

Filled with hundreds of tips, suggestions, and strategies, this guide offers practical medical solutions in clear language. It explains how to develop and maintain exercise and nutrition programs, manage symptoms, determine when to seek medical help, work effectively with doctors, properly use medications and minimize side effects, locate community resources, discuss the illness with family and friends, and tailor social activities for particular conditions.

The author, Joel Stein, shows the many faces of stroke and the people it strikes. To the family just beginning to cope with the aftermath of a stroke, the diagnostic tests, drug regimens, rehabilitation strategies, and varied prognoses can be completely bewildering. This guide is shows how to make some sense of the confusing variety of diagnoses and treatment options, and goes on to explore challenges the recovering stroke patient and the recovering family will face during a long recuperation with an uncertain outcome.

Using his expertise in pharmacology and neuroscience, Dr. Carl Bazil demystifies epilepsy and other seizure disorders and offers medical, practical, and emotional support to patients and their families. He explains how and why seizures occur, and thoroughly discusses treatment options, the pros and cons of surgery, experimental and alternative treatments, strategies for daily living, and much more.

This is a well established guide to coping with joint pain, and has been used by many readers over its twenty years in print. It succeeds because of its tested advice, its hundreds of useful hints, and its emphasis on self-management-helping people with arthritis and fibromyalgia to achieve their own health goals.

My Tool Box is a free 6-week program for patients with chronic disease, designed to teach people the skills they need to live well with chronic health conditions such as cancer, diabetes, heart disease, chronic pain, asthma, arthritis, hypertension and MS. This fun, practical and interactive program emphasizes coping strategies and daily practical skills.

This workbook brings clarity and order to what feels like an unmanageable and isolating experience. It shows both those who are ill and those who care for them how to live a full and meaningful life despite undeniable difficulties related not only to the physical aspects of chronic illness, but the psychological, social, and economic aspects as well.

Alzheimer's Disease provides an overview of the latest findings regarding the cause, diagnosis, and treatment of Alzheimer's disease. It will help caregivers and family members gain a better understanding of the nature of the disease process and the available options for coping with and managing this illness.

PatientsLikeMe is an online resource for people living with chronic illnesses, and other medical conditions. This resource allows you to create an online profile to measure your recovery and treatment process with the medication you take. This resource also allows you to communicate with other patients who are experiencing the same medical conditions, to compare medication effectiveness and treatment progress. Over 100,000 users are members of this community. Please note: If one joins as a member, your medical information will be shared with other parties, as written in the "Privacy Policy" for PatientsLikeMe website.

A majority of chronic illnesses have no medical cure. The best therapy, asserts the author, is self-care. This comprehensive guide suggests healthy behaviors and holistic approaches while acknowledging the barriers people face in applying them.

This resource is designed to help you assess your health while living with chronic diseases or other medical conditions. Also provided are health calculators, activity and menu planners, podcasts and slideshows to help you manage your health.

This resource is intended for persons living with chronic illnesses who are considering alternative treatments. This resource helps to assess available options for alternative treatments and to make better decisions on the use of vitamins, herbal supplements, acupuncture and other complementary therapies.

When doctors put two-year old Lori Hartwell on dialysis after her kidneys mysteriously stopped working, they didn't expect her to live. That was the first time she beat seemingly insurmountable odds to survive and she continues to one-up the statistics today. In Chronically Happy, Hartwell shares her remarkable story and introduces the principles she's relied on to thrive while living with a chronic disease.