Chronic Disease Self-Management

Expert Patients Programme Community Interest Company (EPP CIC) runs a series of free courses for people with long-term health conditions.

15 million people in England live with a long-term health condition and for many this leads to pain, depression and fatigue – it can also affect relationships with family, friends, and partners.

The Expert Patients Programme Community Interest Company (EPP CIC), through local PCTs, provides free courses for people to help improve their quality of their life and deal with the problems they face.

The course ‘Chronic Disease Self-Management’, will be taking place in Staffordshire, Stoke-on-Trent, Dudley and South Birmingham from January 2010.

The programme is run over six weekly sessions, each lasting two and a half hours. The sessions are delivered by two trained facilitators who also live with a long-term health condition.
The programme is designed to improve quality of life, reduce feelings of isolation and depression, improve eating habits, improve relationships, reduce visits to health care professionals and aid participants learning in self managing their illness. 

Ex-fire fighter, James McFadyen, a past EPP CIC course participant from the Midlands said: “I had a triple heart bypass in 2001, and after the operation my life started to fall apart.

“I started to feel depressed and lost my job because of my age and my health and that only made my depression worse.

“After that I was diagnosed with diabetes and that was when I got in contact with EPP CIC. I knew everything I needed to know about my condition - but it was EPP CIC which gave me the skills to manage it on a daily basis and stop it ruining my life. “I am now looking forward to the rest of my life and seeing the world - starting over at 60 is not daunting anymore, it is an adventure.”

Simon Knighton, Chief Executive of Expert Patients Programme Community Interest Company, said: “All EPP programmes are free of charge and run by people who have direct experience of the condition and situation being addressed.

“They can make a real difference to the lives of people living with a long-term health condition or caring for someone with a long-term health condition and I would urge people to attend a course and find out more.”

For more information or to book a place on a course then please call our freephone number 0800 988 5510 or email centralregion.admin@eppcic.co.uk