Hi there, welcome to the second module on Health and Health Behavior. In the upcoming lectures, we'll be talking about health behavior in the context of illness. You probably know a few people who are dealing with a chronic health condition, such as diabetes, heart disease, or chronic pain. Or perhaps you have a chronic health condition yourself. If so, are you aware of the impact a chronic health condition can have in one's daily life? What it asks to manage a chronic condition? In this module, we will look into this, and we'll address how and why this can differ between people. So why the specific focus on chronic health conditions? Currently, about one in three Europeans and even one in two people in the United States have a long-standing illness or health condition. This number is expected to rise even further. Also, an increasing number of people are living with multiple chronic conditions. These conditions often have a large impact on individual, and on his or her family and friends. The financial burner for society is high to the productivity loss, and use of health care services. In the previous modules, you've learned that many chronic health conditions can be prevented by promoting a healthy lifestyle. However, also for people who have already developed one or more chronic health conditions, there's still a lot to be gained from promoting healthy behavior. For instance, improving adherence to therapy, symptom monitoring, communication about the disease, and stress management. In this module, we will discuss how chronic health conditions affect quality of life, the broad range of health behaviors that are needed to self-manage an illness and its impact on quality of life, and the factors that explain individual differences in disease self-management. At the end of this module, you will have a better understanding of the nature and determinants of health behavior in the context of illness.