The conceptualization core will establish a mechanism for critiquing and further developing the current state of knowledge surrounding the prevention and management of chronic illness. Through engaging in strategies to challenge ideas and stimulate debate, the investigators will generate a cadre of conceptual themes and develop these into frameworks to guide investigations conducted through the Center. Critical analysis of these frameworks will enable us to identify those that are productive and the contingencies under which this productivity is evident. Outcomes from this work will be the development and testing of theories related to prevention or management of chronic illness that are applicable to a range of vulnerable groups in varying environments. The specific alms of the core are: l) to foster elaboration of the process of conceptualization through scholarly activities; and 2) to develop more clearly identified conceptualizations of chronic illness as a guide for future research.