Children and adolescents are generally healthier than adults; however, approximately 13 - 23 percent of adolescents experience chronic illnesses, special health care needs, and/or disabilities. These chronic or disabling illnesses include asthma, learning disabilities, attention deficit disorders, obesity, diabetes, hypertension, sickle cell disease, seizure disorders, hemophilia, HIV/AIDS, congenital heart disease and others.

Health care providers have developed case management plans in order to help clinicians and patients better understand their conditions and provide a systematic approach for the treatment of these health conditions. The goals of case management are to:

• improve access to prevention and treatment services including necessary prescription drugs
• improve coordination of services and communication between the patient and the health care provider
• improve health care providers performance through feedback and monitoring the patient's progress and adherence with protocols
• improve patient self-care through patient education, monitoring, and feedback

In Job Corps we know that chronic or disabling illnesses have a major impact on employability as well as morbidity and mortality of Job Corps students.  PRH-6: 6.10, R1 (b4) states: "Students identified as having chronic health problems during the cursory or entrance physical shall be monitored as directed by the center physician or other appropriate center health care provider." Chronic care management plans are tools that have been developed to provide a systematic approach for the treatment of these chronic or disabling illnesses. These plans are available on the Chronic Care Plans webpage.

References

2004 National Healthcare Quality Report (NHQR) and National Healthcare Disparities Report (NHDR).

Chronic Illness Self-Management in Children.