Chronic conditions are a leading cause of death as well as morbidity.
The changing profile in health care requires health professionals to change roles and responsibilities in order to meet the challenges of chronic illness. In addition, there is a need to shift emphasis from acute hospital care to health promotion and disease prevention and deliver care in more cost effective settings. This page is maintained by Anne Hakenewerth , College of Nursing and Health Professions , University of North Carolina at Charlotte . It was last updated on March 12, 1999.