Danes are living longer and longer, and more and more people are suffering from chronic disease. Today, 35 per cent of all Danes over the age of 16 suffer from at least one chronic disease, defined as a disease lasting six months or longer. Among the elderly over 75 years of age, one in every five has at least three chronic diseases, also called multiple diseases. The NIPH has extensive experience in investigating risk factors for and consequences of chronic disease in both children and adults. This work is continuing but we are also creating knowledge about how chronic disease and multiple diseases are experienced and handled. Knowledge of the consequences of chronic disease and health promotion among chronic sufferers is important both for the quality of life of the individual and for the political desire that more people suffering from chronic disease remain in the labour market, in schools and in youth education, and that the major burden of disease should increasingly be handled outside the hospital setting.
Our goals
- We will uncover the mechanisms and risk factors that lead to multiple diseases and the factors that affect the course of illness.
- We will uncover how patients experience chronic disease or multiple diseases and how they deal with it both in daily life and in terms of their experience with the health service.
- We will be a natural cooperation partner for regions and municipalities with regard to the chronically ill.