Editorial: Improving Wellbeing in Patients With Chronic Conditions: Theory, Evidence, and Opportunities

The global epidemiological transition characterizes a shift in the nature of health and disease from acute disease to chronic conditions. Chronic conditions have now superseded acute conditions as leading burdens of morbidity, mortality, and health care expenditures (Murray and Lopez, 1997a,b; Ferrari et al., 2014). In fact, 80.45% of years lived with disability (YLDs) are attributable to chronic conditions, including back pain, depressive, and headache disorders (http://ihmeuw.org/5nrp). Furthermore, despite an increasing lifespan, we are living with more disease and infirmity (Vos et al., 2015; Kyu et al., 2018). Despite this transition our models of health care have not adapted to reflect these changes (Murray and Lopez, 1997b). Accordingly, there is an urgent need to develop more effective approaches to managing chronic conditions both to enhance care and to address the burden chronic conditions are posing on healthcare systems. It is timely then to discuss the theory, evidence, and opportunities for building wellbeing in the increasing number of people who are living with conditions. Conditions that must be managed and for which “cure” is seldom possible