Conceptualizations of self-care

Several conceptual orientations have been proposed for understanding self-care, but their impact on the self-care research literature has been limited. Empirical work about self-care reflects several perspectives of health: clinical, role performance, adaptive and eudaemonistic. These perspectives of health have shaped the research methods and our knowledge about self-care. Linking self-care explicitly to a perspective of health can help delineate more clearly the nature of self-care, its consequences, and areas deserving further study.