Nineteen people talked to Serious and Continuing Illness Policy and Practice Study (SCIPPS) researchers about what life was like living with chronic illness. They described the strengths they brought to experiences of living with chronic illness. Sharing stories and health information with friends and family is one way in which the people we talked with felt strengthened – both in practical terms and emotionally. The importance of informal support through family, friends and community cannot be underestimated.

Strengthening the capacity of people to provide effective informal support benefits everyone. People in this study also described challenges they experience in their daily lives, in relationships with family members, and in consultations with healthcare workers. We have suggested some of the ways in which healthcare workers, health services and policy can help.

People said they drew on a range of strengths to help in managing their chronic illness. These included:

• access to a repository of cultural and traditional knowledge
• insights from their own experiences which provide strategies for confronting the negative impacts of chronic illness
• drawing strength from factors such as being part of an Aboriginal community, having regular and ongoing access to primary health care, and being well-connected to a supportive family network
• the value of elders who play an important role in increasing people’s awareness of the impact of chronic illness on both individuals and communities
• the value of being able to access the AMS (even if there is sometimes a long wait to see a doctor).

These strengths helped them deal with some of the challenges they faced with a chronic illness, including:

• poor access to culturally appropriate health services
• limited, or no cultural support systems in mainstream health services
• racism
• poor communication with healthcare professionals
• financial hardship 
• transport difficulties
• a family history of chronic illness
• managing a number of chronic health conditions at the same time
• time consuming and poorly co-ordinated care between health services
• staying motivated to self manage.

This community report was prepared by Tanisha Jowsey, Laurann Yen, Clive Aspin and Nathaniel Ward on behalf of the Serious and Continuing Illness Policy and Practice Study (SCIPPS). It was written with the support of Winnunga Nimmityjah Aboriginal Health Service, Aboriginal Medical Service Western Sydney, Burrunju Aboriginal Corporation, the Australian National University and the University of Sydney.

Image: Report cover "People I can call on". (Angela Scotney’s art work is the inspiration for the title page, designed by Tanisha Jowsey and executed by Kimberley Brady).