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Building a model of self-care for health promotion in aging
Mary Hobbs Leenerts1, Cynthia S Teel, Mary K Pendleton
1University of Kansas School of Nursing, Kansas City, KS, USA. mleenerts@kumc.edu
Purpose:
To synthesize knowledge about self-care in older community-dwelling people, identify essential dimensions of self-care related to health promotion and well-being in aging, and organize the findings into a literature-based, integrated model with applicability in practice, research, and education.
Organizing Construct:
Self-care and health promotion. Related concepts included self-concept, self-care ability, and self-care activity.
Methods:
These terms were used to search Medline, CINAHL, and PsycINFO data bases. Theoretical and research articles from the last decade that related to self-care and health promotion in community-dwelling elders and that provided recommendations for education and practice were selected for inclusion in the analysis.
Findings:
Self-care for health promotion in independent elders is multidimensional. Synthesis of literature findings resulted in development of the model of Self-care for Health Promotion in Aging, with five dimensions: internal and external environment, self-care ability, education, self-care activity, and outcomes. Examples of education plans that are developed in partnership with clients to promote better health and maximize quality of life are presented.
Conclusions:
Findings from current theoretical and empirical literature were synthesized to develop a model of self-care for health promotion in aging. Suggestions are made regarding application of the model in clinical practice and further theory building and hypothesis testing.
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