Role of Self-Management Interventions in the Rehabilitation of Patients with Chronic Neurological Conditions

A chronic neurological condition could result in complex physical, psychological, and cognitive impairments, leading to reduced overall well-being, inability to do life roles such as in the family and occupation. Self-management plays a crucial role in the rehabilitation process, ongoing maintenance of function, and in preventing or slowing the deterioration associated with chronic neurological conditions (CNC). This chapter will present a conceptual framework for self-management support (SMS) relevant to the realm of chronic neurological conditions, present evidence based self-management strategies used with people with key progressive and non-progressive CNCs with a significant focus on the condition Stroke as a model, consider the challenges in implementing SMS and suggest implementation strategies within rehabilitation practice. There will be a small focus on self-management for Fatigue which is a key complication in most chronic neurological conditions. Further, advances in self-management in neurological conditions such as the use of methods for tailoring interventions for patients and using remote rehabilitation techniques for self-management support will be discussed.