Approaches to self-care in late life

The preponderance of research on self-care examines behaviors and attitudes while overlooking individual conceptualizations of this domain. Qualitative analysis of open-ended interviews regarding health beliefs explored ways of taking care of oneself among 50 older people. The dialogue of individuals was categorized into three overall approaches to self-care. Although one approach dominated the narratives of most individuals, participants referred to more than one way to take care of themselves. Variations in approaches depended on setting or social context. Participants' approaches to self-care were also explained in terms of their perceptions of aging and their past experiences, as expressed in their images of themselves as self-carers.