We know that the development and maintenance of many chronic health conditions is often driven by social factors like poverty, social isolation, lack of access to healthcare service, and education. 

Many people with chronic conditions do not have a single, predominant condition, but rather they experience multi-morbidity - the presence of 2 or more chronic conditions in a person at the same time.

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare commonly reports incidence and prevalence data on 10 most prevalent chronic condition groups (arthritis, asthma, back pain, cancer, cardiovascular disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, diabetes, chronic kidney disease, mental health conditions and osteoporosis) but there are many more (e.g. neurological conditions and dementias, gastro-intestinal disorders, muscular skeletal and connective tissue disorders, and autoimmune disorders etc).