The Chronic Conditions Manual is broken into sections
Section 1. Lifestyle modifications
This section contains best-practice healthy lifestyle information that aims to support clinical practice. These are:
- Engaging our patients
- Alcohol reduction
- Diet and nutrition
- Physical activity
- Sexual and reproductive health
- Smoking cessation
- Social-emotional wellbeing
This information can be copied and offered to patients to support healthy lifestyle behaviours.
Section 2. Child health check
This section provides best-practice recommendations for routine checks from birth to 15 years of age to identify chronic conditions. It provides a systematic Medicare compliant guide for performing health check assessments via direct questioning and clinical procedures, and recommended referral pathways if concerns are identified.
Section 3. Adult health check
This section provides best-practice recommendations for routine Medicare compliant health checks of people > 15 years. Both health check sections focus on health promotion and are complemented by both the Lifestyle modifications, and Management of diagnosed conditions.
Section 4. Management of diagnosed conditions
This section is intended for all clinicians who work directly with patients with a chronic condition in a community setting. It provides 26 separate guides for the most common chronic conditions in Australia. These guides follow the same format and include the following:
The shaded introductory box–highlights high risk groups, consideration, considerations in pregnancy, and the need for urgent referral.
- What is–provides a brief background and explanation of the condition.
- Diagnosis–briefly outlines elements taken into consideration when diagnosing the condition.
- Management–details the specific elements required to successfully manage the condition including strategies around patient engagement and continuity of care.
- Medicines–provides options on various medicine treatment modalities considered best practice for the condition, including a list of suggested LAM and PBS approved medicines.
- Cycle of care–provides a structured care pathway for the clinician to monitor progress and assist with follow-up and ongoing management.
- References–available from the ORRH website.
- Resources–offers the clinician with recommended up to date online resources
to provide further assistance with managing and educating patients. The clinician
is also encouraged to seek and utilise local resources as required. NOTE: Some resources are only available via the Queensland Health Electronic Publishing website for those with access. Similar resources can be found online.
Section 5. Appendices
This section contains tools to support chronic condition risk assessment and decision making.
Online and ordering
The Chronic Conditions Manual and Health Check Forms
Medicare compliant Child and Adult health check forms are freely available at the ORRH website, while the Chronic Conditions Manual is freely available for download.