Multimorbidity and chronic disease: an emergent perspective

Abstract

The concept of emergence offers a new way of thinking about multimorbidity and chronic disease. Multimorbidity and chronic disease are the end result of ongoing perturbations and interconnected activities of simpler substructures that collectively constitute the complex adaptive superstructure known as us, the person or patient. Medical interventions cause perturbations of many different sub-systems within the patient, hence they are not limited to the person's bodily function, but also affect his general health perception and his interactions with his external environments. Changes in these domains inevitably have consequences on body function, and close the feedback loop of illness/disease, recovery and regained health.

Keywords: chronic care; chronic disease; complex adaptive systems; emergence; multimorbidity; non-linear dynamics.