Better Choices, Better Health                Chronic Disease Self-Management Program

Chronic Disease Self-Management Program, also known as "Better Choices, Better Health," is a six-week program that runs for 2 ½ hours each week in community settings, senior centers, and physicians offices. People with different chronic health problems attend the program together. Workshops are facilitated by two trained leaders, one or both of whom are non-health professionals (referred to as lay leaders) with chronic diseases themselves.  

What is covered in the program?

• Disease related problem solving
• Communication skills
• Managing emotions
• Exercise
• Developing patient/physician partnership
• Use of community resources
• Nutrition
• Managing medications
• Advanced directives
• Cognitive symptom management

Program Outcomes

The Division of Family and Community Medicine in the School of Medicine at Stanford University developed, tested and evaluated this program and found the following:

• Subjects who took the program, when compared to those who did not, demonstrated significant improvements in exercise, cognitive symptom management, communication with physicians, self-reported general health, health distress, fatigue, disability, and social/role activities and limitations
• Spent fewer days in the hospital
• Trend toward fewer outpatient visits and hospitalizations
• Cost to savings ratio of 1:10

For more information about program outcomes and Stanford's Chronic Disease Self-Management program, visit their website.

Better Choices, Better Health in New Hampshire
View the Better Choices, Better Health video for more information on the program and how to become a Trained Leader.

For information about upcoming workshops in New Hampshire:

• View the map of current workshops
• View the workshop list
• Contact:

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