Living with multimorbidity? The lived experience of multiple chronic conditions in later life

Porter, Tom, Ong, Bie Nio and Sanders, Tom (2020) Living with multimorbidity? The lived experience of multiple chronic conditions in later life. Health, 24 (6). pp. 701-718. ISSN 1363-4593

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Abstract

Multimorbidity is defined biomedically as the co-existence of two or more long-term conditions in an individual. Globally the number of people living with multiple conditions is increasing, posing stark challenges both to the clinical management of patients and the organisation of health systems. Qualitative literature has begun to address how concurrency affects the self-management of chronic conditions, and the concept of illness prioritisation predominates. In this paper, we adopt a phenomenological lens to show how older people with multiple conditions experience illness. This UK study was qualitative and longitudinal in design. Sampling was purposive and drew upon an existing cohort study. In total 15 older people living with multiple conditions took part in 27 indepth interviews. The practical stages of analysis were guided by Constructivist Grounded Theory (Charmaz 2006). We argue that the concept of multimorbidity as clinically imagined has limited relevance to lived experience, whilst concurrency may also be erroneous. In response, we outline a lived-experience of multiple chronic conditions in later life, which highlights differences between clinical and lay assumptions and makes the latter visible.

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