Chronic Disease Self-Management 

​Stanford's 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.

Click here to view our most recent Semi-Annual Data Cut!

Worksite CDSM

This is an adaptation of the 6-week CDSMP.
It contains similar content, but is rearranged into 1-hour segments for the workplace.
  • Small group workshop offered either face-to-face or virtually
  • 50-55 minutes per session
  • 2 sessions per week for 6 weeks​
Interested in setting up a Workplace CDSM? 
​Contact Carli Hughes at [email protected]
For workshops in all New Hampshire Counties please contact:
Carli Hughes
Southern NH AHEC Program Coordinator
128 State Route 27, Raymond, NH 03077 | Email: [email protected] ​
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