Patricia A. Fennell created the Fennell Four Phase Model for understanding and treating chronic medical and mental health conditions, trauma, and the effects of crime. Jeffrey Turner, in his book American Families in Crisis: A Reference Handbook, considers her a nationally recognized expert in the care of chronic illnesses, trauma, forensics, and hospice care. Fennell has written several books and articles published in the media and professional press, and is CEO of Albany Health Management Associates, Inc., in Albany, New York. Her company offers counseling, case management, and training based on her model. She also lectures on these topics at professional conferences, and community meetings.
Education and experience
Fennell graduated from The College of Saint Rose in New York State with an undergraduate sociology degree, and received her graduate degree in social work from the State University of New York at Albany. She began her career in social work in the hospice setting. She determined that the excellent care given to the dying could be applied to individuals with chronic illnesses. In the course of time she concentrated on working, supporting, and creating a new treatment approach for chronic syndromes. Her clinical experience with individuals in managing chronic illness, other works, and publications, have earned her a reputation as an expert in the field according to a review of Fennell's book; Managing Chronic Illness, published in Psychiatric Services. Fennell is CEO of Albany Health Management, Inc. Her company provides counseling, consulting, professional education, and doctoral training for the State University of New York. She also engages in collaborative international research using her empirically verified "Four-Phase Model".
Four Phase Model
Fennell created the Four Phase Model as a framework to help clinicians comprehend and manage the integration of the experiences of patients with chronic illnesses. The four phases are crisis, stabilization, resolution, and integration. She explains that her model allows for therapeutic intervention in a flexible phase-specific manner so that individuals may integrate their illness into a meaningful life despite physical limitations. An integrated systems approach is utilized to include all aspects of an individual's chronic illness; physical/behavioral, psychological, and social/interactive. The model recognizes a patient's needs early in chronic illness may differ from the needs in later years, and may affect various responses to treatment, be it medical or psychosocial. Study results suggest that Fennell's model accurately describes the phases of illness adaptation that persons with chronic fatigue syndrome experience, and that phase models may help researchers understand disparate results seen in CFS research studies. The model may also be a useful tool for lifestyle modification in age management. Physicians, nurses, psychologists, and social workers are instructed in her courses on how to apply her approach to patients.
Affiliations
Fennell collaborates with DePaul University's Chronic Illness Initiative on issues related to chronically ill college students. A training program led by administrators and faculty of DePaul and Albany Health Management Associates teaches educational institutions how to develop policies and deliver services to students with chronic illness. The program is based on the FFPT model of chronic illness and DePaul's Chronic Illness Initiative support services model.
Managing Chronic Illness Using the Four-Phase Treatment Approach.
Co-editor and co-author of Handbook of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.
The chapter on "Chronic Illness" for Encyclopedia of Social Work.
The Chronic Illness Workbook: Strategies and Solutions for Taking Back Your Life.
Selected articles
CFS, The Four Progressive Stages of the CFS Experience: A Coping Tool for Patients
CFS, Sociocultural Influences and Trauma: Clinical Considerations
Selected lectures and conferences
"The Invisible Struggle: Understanding the World of the Chronically Ill Student" Keynote Presentation by Patricia Fennell: DePaul University School for New Learning.
Fennell offers a certification program through The Advocate Program/American Association of Community Justice Professionals; it teaches people to apply her teachings to trauma survivors.
