The Relationship Between Self-Care Agency and Health-Promoting Behavior in Women with Chronic Illness

It is certainly a fact that women live longer than men. The reasons for the more lengthy life are controversial, but undoubtedly living longer increases the chances of developing chronic illnesses. Women are therefore more likely to develop chronic illness in later age than men. The purpose of this study was to explore the impact of being able to perform self-care (self-care agency) and practicing health-promoting behavior in a sample of adult women with chronic illness. Practicing self-care to promote health may reduce the incidence of or effects of chronic illnesses and also reduce medical expenses in addition to reducing the necessity for frequent medical care. Those at increased risk for developing chronic illnesses may or may not practice health-promoting behavior. It was not known whether a relationship between self-care agency and health-promoting behavior existed. The framework for this investigation merged work of two nursing theorists. The work of Nola Pender and the Health-Promotion Model (1996) along with Dorothea Orem and the Self-Care Deficit Nursing Theory (2001) were incorporated into this investigation. The research design for this investigation was a quantitative descriptive correlational design. Data were collected from patients who were seeking care at a selected internal medicine practice in the Midwest, met inclusion criteria, and agreed to participate. The survey results were based on the information gathered from a completed demographic form and also from survey instruments of Self-Care Agency Scale (Kearney & Fleischer, 1979) and the Health-Promoting Lifestyle Profile II (Walker, Sechrist, & Pender, 1995). The findings from the survey results did show that a significant positive correlation existed between self-care agency and health-promoting behavior