Table 4.

Self-management behaviors in a transitional self-management pattern

Type of self-management behavior, number of participants describing behavior (diagnoses)	Description
Pain management	In the beginning, participants described strategies to try to control or limit pain (e.g., warm baths, pain medication). Later, they used strategies to live with pain including pacing, prioritizing and self talk strategies.
N = 7
(rheum, MS, IBD)
Fatigue management	In the first interviews the participants did not know how to handle “tiredness”. Over time, the participants integrated the following strategies in their daily life; pacing, prioritizing, planning for rests, and regular sleeping hours.
N = 8
(rheum, IHD, CRD, MS)
Managing household activities	Participants changed how they conducted everyday household activities. They used pacing and prioritizing, asked for help, bought services, or adapted their ways of doing things.
N = 12
(Rheum, IHD, IBD, MS, CRD)
Manage work	The participants started with smaller changes; for example changing working tasks or tried to limit stress at work. Later they changed their working environment (e.g., a quite room, an ergonomic chair) in collaboration with employers, changed their attitude to working (e.g., more relaxed and less competitive) and some limited their working hours. A few participants changed their place of work or stopped working.
N = 13
(rheum, diab, IHD, CRD, MS)

Diagnoses: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), Multiple sclerosis (MS), Rheumatism (rheum), chronic renal disease (CRD), Diabetes (diab), ischemic heart disease (IHD).