Multimorbidity, commonly defined as the co-occurrence of two or more chronic medical conditions in an individual, is associated with poorer function and quality of life, depression, intake of multiple drugs and increased healthcare utilization, and people with multimorbidity account for approximately 78% of all consultations in primary care. Compared to people with only one chronic condition, people with multimorbidity are more likely to die prematurely, to be admitted to hospital and have an increased length of stay in hospital. Multimorbidity affects millions of people around the world and is considered the number one challenge for the healthcare system in the years to come due to the enormous associated personal and societal consequences.
The healthcare system and most research focus on one medical condition at a time, and treatment plans often fail to take a holistic perspective. We know from qualitative research that treating one condition at a time is inconvenient, inefficient and unsatisfactory for the person with the chronic conditions as well as his or her healthcare provider. Research on effective treatment of multimorbidity is lacking. The results of the MOBILIZE project are helping change that.
The aim of the MOBILIZE project is to empower patients with multimorbidity to take a more active role in their healthcare so that they may increase quality of life and physical function, reduce symptoms of the individual conditions, and prevent development of other chronic conditions. In a meticulous process following state-of-the art methods and guidelines recommended internationally, the project has developed and evaluated the effects of a tailored exercise therapy and self-management support program in addition to current best practice on quality of life and a range of other outcomes in people with multimorbidity (i.e. at least two of the following conditions: knee or hip osteoarthritis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, heart disease (heart failure or coronary heart disease), hypertension, type 2 diabetes mellitus, depression). As hypothesized, we found that personalized exercise therapy and self-management program in addition to current best practice is superior to current best practice alone on quality of life at 12 months.
The project has thus provided new insight into which treatment is the most effective and how to support and manage people with multimorbidity to live a life with higher quality of life and wellbeing. To ensure that the results will reach the end-users and be applicable in research and clinical practice in the future, we have developed a communication and dissemination plan as well as a plan for implementation in Denmark, which can later be upscaled to other countries as described in WP4 of the original ERC proposal.
