Nursing interventions that promote self-care for people with inflammatory bowel disease: A systematic literature review

Objectives Nurses play a pivotal role in empowering people to engage in self-care and improving health outcomes. This study aims to identify and analyze nursing interventions that promote self-care in people with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in outpatient settings. Methods We conducted a systematic search from September to October 2024 across PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, and EBSCOhost (CINAHL Plus with Full Text). We included primary studies published between January 2014 and October 2024, in Portuguese or English, involving adults (≥18 years) with Crohn’s disease and/or ulcerative colitis and using nursing interventions to promote self-care. Two reviewers independently assessed methodological quality using the Joanna Briggs Institute critical appraisal tools, and the protocol was registered in PROSPERO (CRD42024537593). Results Eight studies ( n = 2,347) met the inclusion criteria . At the micro level, interventions comprised structured education and health literacy support, medication counseling, problem-solving strategies, mindfulness, and relaxation techniques. These interventions were associated with improvements in self-efficacy, coping, psychological symptoms, quality of life, and selected medication and lifestyle-compliance outcomes. However, effects on medication adherence were inconsistent. At the meso level, one study explicitly incorporated family or carers into the continuing care plan. Another reported including family members in an initial education session but did not describe structured participation in follow-up. At the macro level, nurse-led follow-up, specialist nursing roles in IBD care, multidisciplinary coordination and digital communication were associated with accessibility, continuity of care, patient satisfaction and, in one study, estimated cost savings. Conclusions The available evidence suggests that nursing interventions in outpatient IBD care can support self-care-related outcomes, particularly when education and behavioral support are integrated with continuous, person-centered follow-up. Evidence focused on the individual and organizational levels, whereas family and carer involvement remained insufficiently studied. These findings support further evaluation of specialist IBD nursing roles and integrated, multilevel outpatient care models.