ABSTRACT
The care of patients with chronic illnesses, especially if they suffer a significant degree of dependence, requires the health care system to adopt a totally different approach. Although professional education is adequate to diagnose and treat acute processes, the focus is on cure, which is based more on the illness than on the patient. Acute care emphasizes hardware, such as high technology and complex facilities, while chronic care emphasizes continuity of care, deliberative models, attention to comfort, and caregiver support. If the acute care strategy is adopted for chronic illnesses, care is partial, fragmented, duplicated, and characterized by poor communication between the hospital and the community (1).
