A Systematic Review and Integration of Concept Analyses of Self-Care and Related Concepts

Abstract

Purpose: This systematic review identified, synthesized, and integrated concept analyses on self-care and related concepts.

Design: The guidelines for systematic literature reviews of the Joanna Briggs Institute were followed.

Methods: The Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), PubMed, PsycINFO, and EMBASE databases were searched for concept analyses published in the past 20 years.

Findings: A total of 26 concept analyses were identified that had been published on self-care, self-care agency, self-monitoring, self-management, self-management support, symptom management, and self-efficacy. Differences and commonalities in the examined literature were identified, and a model was delineated, explaining the relations among the various concepts from the nursing perspective.

Conclusions: The healthcare literature has broadly described self-care and related concepts; however, consensus on the definitions remains beyond our reach and should not be expected, due to the different perspectives and paradigms from which the concepts are interpreted. From a nursing perspective, self-care can be considered a broad concept encompassing the other concepts, which describe more specific individual levels of activities and processes.

Clinical relevance: Nurses are actively involved in disease management and self-management support as well as in promoting self-care in healthy and sick people. Referring to a model on self-care and related concepts could avoid misinterpretations in nursing practice, research, and policy.

Keywords: Concept analysis; model self-care; synthesis; systematic review.