By Dr. Seleem R. Choudhury
Nearly half of all Americans suffer from at least one chronic disease, and that number is growing (American Association of Retired Persons; Fried, 2017; Tinker, 2017). Chronic diseases—including cancer, diabetes, hypertension, stroke, heart disease, respiratory diseases, arthritis, obesity, and oral diseases—can lead to hospitalization, long-term disability, reduced quality of life, and death. Additionally, chronic diseases often require a long period of supervision, observation, or care (Rothman, & Wagner, 2003). To make matters more complicated, many patients have multiple morbidities, creating particular challenges for healthcare providers (Braillard, Slama-Chaudhry, Joly, Perone, & Beran, 2018).