Empowering Self-Care in Chronic Illness

This study describes a conceptual model about empowering self-care. Such a model is important because of its potential for influencing health outcomes in chronic conditions, a leading cause of illness and disability. A defining characteristic of chronic illness is the need for effective self-care management. Therefore, a self-care management plan that is collaboratively developed and considers the patient's goals, resources, culture, and lifestyle was proposed. The philosophical perspective of oppression and story theory provided the theoretical lenses used to define the concept empowering self-care. Identified are qualities of empowerment, which stress a non-hierarchical relationship that promote authentic dialoguing and valuing of each individual's contribution. Story theory structures ideas around the nurse-person intentional dialogue. It is especially useful when the nurse is attempting to understand what matters most to someone living with a health challenge. The story was gathered using the story path method to structure the dialogue. A synthesized definition of empowering self-care was created through the lens of Freire (2005) and the story of what matters to a person living with the health challenge of a chronic condition. Empowering self-care can promote increased patient accountability and responsibility for self-care management leading to improved patient outcomes. Health outcomes may improve when nurses actively support patients' efforts to achieve their own goals.