Background

The region's efforts for citizens with long-term illness

The group of citizens/patients with long-term disorders includes large parts of the population in all age groups. The Danish Health Authority estimates that more than every third adult Dane lives with one or more long-term illnesses. Chronic or long-term illness is dealt with here under one, but depending on the illness character and the individual's possibilities to handle his situation, will a life with one chronic or long-term illness varies considerably from person to person.

For several of the chronic diseases, there is a correlation between development of chronic diseases and lifestyle. This applies, for example, to for the development of chronic bronchitis, cardiovascular diseases and diabetes, where there is a connection with smoking respectively, overweight and physical inactivity.

The citizens of Region Zealand live in many areas more unhealthily than the national average. It can therefore also be predicted that the proportion of citizens with chronic conditions in Region Zealand will grow in the years to come.