The meaning of self‐care for people with chronic illness

Abstract

kralik d, price k & telford k (2010) Journal of Nursing and Healthcare of Chronic Illness2, 197–204 The meaning of self‐care for people with chronic illness Aim. To reveal the meaning of self‐care as described by men and women living with chronic conditions. Background. Chronic illness self‐care and self‐management are terms that have been used interchangeably in the literature. Self‐care in the context of chronic illness has received some research attention, but remains an under‐explored concept. Methods. Conversation data were gathered using longitudinal email groups facilitated by the first author over a 21‐month period between 2003–2005, with 42 men and women living with chronic illness. Results. Self‐care is a process of adaptation in response to learning about oneself and about ways to live well with illness. Developing capacity to self care impacted significantly on the way participants experienced illness, their view of themselves and of their future. Conclusions. People living with chronic illness describe the process of self‐care as transformational in terms of feelings about their selves and reclaiming a sense of order. It enables them to move forward with a sense of the future. The primary health care principle of holistic assessment, taking account of the wider context of people’s lives, is of heightened importance when educating about self‐care. Relevance to clinical practice. Health care workers can assist people by acknowledging that chronic illness self‐care is a process that gradually evolves and is borne out of listening to the person’s priorities and finding ways for strategies to fit harmoniously alongside those priorities.

(Re)constructing Myself: the process of transition to motherhood for women with a disability

“…Some suggest that the concepts are 'large, amorphous, and changing phenomena that defy hard and fast definitions' (Ashmore and Jussim 1997:p5), while others suggest the concepts are related and interconnected (Kralik and Telford 2010). At their core, both have a number of associated concepts including, self-awareness and reflexivity, but despite this commonality the concepts of identity and self are, as evident by the diverse ways they have been used throughout different discourses, fundamentally different (Ashmore and Jussim 1997).…”

“…The individual can, as an autonomous agent, choose what aspects of the self they want to present to others and what aspects they want to disguise. It is the self presented to others that informs and influences the creation of perceptions about the individual and these perceptions are then internalised by the individual to form an understanding of the self (Kralik and Telford 2010).…”

“…Essentially, the process involves an adjustment from a known self, to an unknown self. Pre-motherhood, women with a disability had to construct a self and live in a society that perceived them to be different and dependent (Moore 1998, Barnes and Mercer 2010, Kralik and Telford 2010.…”

Self-Care in Nursing: Self-Management, Self-Monitoring, and the Management of Symptoms as Related Concepts

“…15 A gestão eficaz das situações crônicas é descrita na literatura, geralmente, em termos de programas de educação, de modo a permitir a autogestão e/ou o autocuidado já que esses dois conceitos apresentam, muitas vezes, o mesmo significado. 5 O autocuidado é precedido pela sua autoperceção, em ní-vel cognitivo, psicossocial, físico, demográfico e sociocultural. 4 Assim, o significado que as pessoas portadoras de doença crô-nica atribuem ao autocuidado é diferente consoante os seus valores, crenças e atitudes perante a vida.…”

“…É também muito importante que os profissionais de saúde permaneçam conscientes dessa perceção, pois eles interagem com as pessoas e essa interação reconhece e reforça a capacidade das pessoas e a sua autoestima no desempenho e nas tomadas de decisão para as ações de autocuidado. 5 Todavia, existem barreiras à realização do autocuidado nas pessoas portadoras de doença crónica tais como as limi-Assim, os programas de autogestão da doença crônica propõem intervenções de modo a facilitar as competências das pessoas para automonitorizar os sintomas e tomar decisões informadas como parceiros ativos no controle do seu processo de doença, ou seja, o seu envolvimento vai facilitar o desenvolvimento do autocuidado. As intervenções consistem no retorno positivo, no ensino, na criação de situações em contexto de simulação, na negociação, no suporte psicológico, nos cuidados médicos e na utilização da tecnologia de informação.…”