A qualitative study examining the everyday 'work' patients do to manage multimorbidity , living in socio-economically deprived areas of Scotland

Multimorbidity (MM), defined as 2 or more conditions, is common with patients in primary care, particularly in deprived areas. Primary health care teams are often in the best position to help people manage MM but there is little research evidence, based on patient experiences, about what kind of help is most likely
to work and why. Practitioners working in socio-economically deprived areas of Scotland, who reported their
struggles to support patients with complex problems within the current system of care, suggested that patients often use their personal, social and material resources simply negotiating their everyday 'chaotic' lives rather than managing their illnesses. There is a need to gain insight into the ways patients manage
multimorbidity in the context of their everyday lives in order to design an effective system of support to enhance patient wellbeing.