The management of chronic illness is complex and challenging. Patients and families are often on the front-line managing chronic illness between formal contacts with their healthcare providers. Self-management has been defined as the actions individuals and caregivers perform on behalf of themselves, their children, or their families to optimize physical, social, and mental health and well-being. Innovative and effective strategies to assist and amplify the engagement of patients and caregivers in the self-management of chronic illness hold promise for maximizing positive health outcomes.

We invite investigators to contribute original research and review articles to better understand how to promote adult and pediatric patients and caregivers as active participants in self-management of chronic illness. We are particularly interested in articles describing innovative practice models and effective nursing interventions to promote the engagement of patients and caregivers in the management of chronic illness and their ability to perform self-management behaviors across various illness trajectories. Authors are discouraged from submitting papers on patient education about chronic illness for the sole purpose of improving knowledge without demonstration of behavioral changes, or descriptions of the burdens of managing chronic illness and/or caregiving, as these topics do not directly promote engagement and self-management. Potential topics include, but are not limited to:

• Evidence regarding patient and caregiver behaviors known to improve short and long-term outcomes across chronic illness trajectories (e.g., lifestyle management, self-monitoring, self-care, and caregiving)
• Theoretical support for patient engagement and activation in chronic disease
• Review of patient, caregiver, and provider attitudes and behaviors regarding patient participation in chronic illness management
• Innovative practice models that promote the role of patients and caregivers as active participants in the management of chronic illness
• Innovative methodological approaches to capturing engagement of patient and caregiver in self-monitoring and self-care behaviors
• Innovative nursing interventions that promote engagement of patients and caregivers in the management of chronic illness
• Philosophical and ethical issues related to self-management
• Trends in consumer health informatics to support patient and caregiver engagement in chronic care
• Policy initiatives oriented towards the support of self-management

Before submission authors should carefully read over the journal's Author Guidelines, which are located at http://www.hindawi.com/journals/nrp/guidelines/. Prospective authors should submit an electronic copy of their complete manuscript through the journal Manuscript Tracking System at http://mts.hindawi.com/ according to the following timetable: