Self-help support for chronic illness—societal challenges and current approaches

Abstract

Community self-help in self-help groups is socially recognized as a form and culture of informal help. Knowledge is gathered and common strategies for coping with everyday life in chronic illness or disability are developed. Self-help clearinghouses at 300 locations in Germany significantly support the foundation and work of self-help groups. The increasing involvement of self-help in healthcare through participation rights and cooperation necessitate an expansion of the range of tasks of self-help clearinghouses. Likewise, societal framework conditions such as demographic development and digitalization make demands on the counseling competence of specialists in self-help support. The support of generational change in self-help groups and the acquisition of young people for a self-help commitment is a task for the future. Depending on the resources available, self-help clearinghouses manage to address development challenges and include them in a process of organizational and quality development.