“Better Choices, Better Health” (available at www.restartliving.org and www.selfmanage.org) is the recently launched online version of Stanford’s chronic disease self-management program. The National Council on Aging (NCOA) partnered with Stanford to bring it to scale, and the site helps address the needs of those wanting to use the chronic disease self-management model.
“The Internet-based offering is [generally] structured the same as the community-based version,” says Jay Greenberg, senior vice-president of the NCOA in Washington, D.C. “Both are six weeks long, have the same educational information, and have participants complete action plans. The person can complete all the requirements at their computer at a time that is convenient for them.”
There are differences, however. Instead of face-to-face interactions with facilitators and others at a specific time or place each week, there are bulletin boards. Action plans and other suggestions are posted, as is feedback from the facilitators and participants. Questions can be asked and answered even if the participants are not online at the same time.
In addition, the site has extra background material, such as videos showing examples of how both the community and online programs are structured. There is also a list of frequently asked questions and a quiz to help the user decide which form of the program will work the best for him or her.