Q1. What positive and negative impacts do chronic health conditions have on someone's view of their selves?

Although almost patients at some point in their lives find themselves suffering some degree of sickness and ill health, experiencing a chronic illness, especially when someone is young, can put the patient outside of the normal growth trajectory of someone in their age group, psychologically as well as physically. Chronic illnesses can foster a sense of depression, a lack of self-efficacy, and can force young people to delay common milestones such as going away to college and embarking upon a new occupation. Feeling fear, anxiety, tension, anger, and depression is common and can cause patients to underestimate their abilities (Ebrahimi Belil, et al., 2018, par. 3.2.2). When chronically ill patients feel a greater sense of self-efficacy and ability to manage their symptoms, while acknowledging their limitations, they are less likely to suffer from such issues (Ebrahimi Belil, et al., 2018).

Chronic illnesses can be instructive in the compassion and sense of self-reflection patients may experience as a result of their illnesses. They may also feel greater resiliency and determination to make the most of the times that they do feel well, in contrast to their fully able-bodied contemporaries. Patients need to learn to tolerate disruptions and identify what they cannot and can control in a proactive fashion. This is a hard lesson that many able-bodied persons struggle to cope with, given the great emphasis placed upon achievement, control, and maximizing productivity in daily life.

Chronic illnesses also force patients to self-advocate both within the healthcare system, but also on a social level, as they must navigate treatment, medication schedules, or simply the energy drain their illness creates. They also can become aware, as a form of self-protection, of the dangers of relationships where boundaries are not respected, as they require people to understand and empathize with their limitations. All of these were important lessons for all patients, regardless of health status, during the quarantine and recent pandemic.

Q2. How can we improve healthcare in the United States for those who do not speak...

…A review by Jongen, McCalman, & Bainbridge (2018) found significant heterogeneity in workforce intervention strategies, measures and outcomes reported across studies making comparisons of intervention effects difficult, and while improvements in practitioner knowledge were statistically significant regarding knowledge, skills, and changes in attitudes, the health and health-related outcomes of the affected populations was not (par.3).

This does not necessarily mean that such interventions have no value, but that the socioeconomic and health-related barriers populations face may be so significant, training in improved communication is clearly not enough to make a difference. Training may still be valuable, but different approaches may be required. Also, making active efforts to diversify the workforce is also important.

The lessons learned from such studies might be that while improved attitudes may result in improved healthcare on an individual basis, it is not a substitute for addressing material issues and problems which may affect patients. There may also be a need to reevaluate existing educational approaches. Reaching out to patients for feedback is essential, and such programs should be continuing, not simply conducted upon younger or…