These two words are often used interchangeably, some even used the same definition for both. However, they are no the same.
I have seen some researchers use self-management in the context of symptom management in people living with chronic illness, e.g., heart failure or kidney disease. My research is in self-care post-invasive coronary interventions; I define these concepts differently. Self-care doesn't always involve a symptom.
Hummmmn! Nice one Modjadji Choshi. Yes I have seen also Self- management has been used in the context of symptom management, outcome, or both in the literature.
I read this article that delved deeper on Self, self-concept, self-care, and self-management.
Omisakin, F. D., & Ncama, B. P. (2011). Self, self-care and self-management concepts: implications for self-management education. Educational Research, 2(12), 1733-1737.
I would love to know your thoughts about it. Thank you
Context is crucial. This is a paradox. Management connotes a conscious, planned, intellectual approach toward a specific outcome and is, therefore, the end justifying the means from an ethical perspective. Self-care is a wellness term of inquiry where an individual becomes aware of unconscious processes as a response to an external phenomenon. Self-care is an internal process cultivating a state of being whereas management is an external process of action or intervention.
Thank you for sharing the article Margaret Ayorinde . I appreciate bringing in the ethical aspects Denise Varner . I will read the article.
Thank you, Denise Varner, for sharing your thoughts on this. This is helpful for me. Your explanation of management is practical in bringing out the differences between these concepts (self-management and Self-care), which have constantly muddled up over the years.
Do you have resources you may like to share with me on this, please? They might be helpful to delve deeper and for citations. Thank you
You are welcome Margaret Ayorinde. This seems to be new territory with the recent research revealed from recent studies on human neurobiology, prosocial behavior, and business practices. Journals such as: 1. International Journal of Management; 2. Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice; 3. Global Advances in Health and Medicine; 4. Journal of Business Ethics. You should be able to access these journals through your institution's library or database or Google Scholar in a subject search on interpersonal and intrapersonal management in the workplace. One book I find helpful is Ronald Epstein's "Attending: Medicine, Mindfulness, and Humanity." I hope that this is helpful to you.
Great discussion. Are you both interested in a collaborative systemic review?
Margaret Ayorinde and Denise Varner
Self-care is a personal journey of finding a regimen that helps them through a period of becoming well or continuing with seeking wellness.
Self-management is knowing a regimen like the management of asthma or diabetes, and the client can self-manage their medical issue.
I agree with you, Sena. Self-care (SC) is personal! The collaborative factor is a requirement for self-management (SM). Although SM is about self, it relies heavily of collaboration with care providers (experts), family and social support, community resources. SM is connected to at least one medical issue. No one practices SM without a medical problem.
An important reason for self-care is self-regulation. Professional caregivers are barely taught this. The American Academy of Medicine recognizes that a healthy workforce must be cultivated if it is to hold the capacity to care for others. Yes, it is personal but if the personal is not cared for, unconscious processes can spill over onto those unintentionally without conscious awareness. This is how unprocessed emotional experiences subjectively overlap into the workplace.
A pt 34 yr old stopped his meds after a quadruple bipass after two months. He came into our level 4 hospital with heart failure exasperated. This self care and he needed a self management taught to him for DM and HF. Poor education at a level 1 cardiac center.
This is not new. People make decisions because they are unsupported in some dimension of their adjustment/acceptance process. Context is everything. This is the reason wellness coaches are being introduced from physician "self-care" support to patient/client wellness. What you introduced is the failure of a system to allow nurses and public health nurses to compassionately sojourn any patient in making lifestyle adjustments. Nurses used to serve this capacity pre-managed care. You are describing multiple system failures in the patient and the industry. It also sounds like blaming the victim. Self-care is inclusive of the ability to self-reflect in provider and patient. It is a process of growth. A thirty-four-year-old male, sixty days post-op has unattended psychological adjustment issues that have gone unaddressed. Unless he has had a lifelong cardiac pathology, the system, in its inability to reflect failed him. You need to go deeper into a care team approach. There are a lot of missing pieces here which is what happens in a fragmented system with fragmented care approaches. Contemplative practices help here. Who was in charge of pre and post-op care inclusive of psychosocial assessments?
All of what you said is very true. I have worked in heart transplants. That may have been part of the cause of his self-care of not wanting to take medications anymore. In rural areas, there are not any patient coaches. When I am talking about self-care, I am not blaming the patient. It starts with health care disparity, with clinics not taking time to teach at the beginning of the diagnosis. Telling the patient what a regimen of diabetes and HF self-management looks like. Primary providers get paid based on the number of patients per hour. This is why primary doctors in MN, Alina, are looking into unionizing to help their patients get better care. You are looking at this situation in an urban medical center, and I am looking at a rural area that is 200 away from any specialists. All critical care is flown out to level-one hospitals.
My career of over 25 years has been in rural healthcare primary care clinics and public health outreach. This is not new. I worked with the most isolated reservations in the U.S., the most marginalized population in North America. The missing component is community health education support. Community Health Workers function as the mediating factor between physician and patient. This is a worldwide phenomenon. Unionization brings the problem back to the physician's capacity to educate and the competence of the institution/organization itself. In the U.S. a 34 year old male or female is too young to undergo an invasive cardiac surgery of that nature. This goes to standards of practice and whether or not invasive approaches are best for best outcomes. There is a lot here. Self care in your example is not even the issue. It is the failure of the system to teach and enable its importance.
Self-care involves individual actions to maintain physical, mental, and emotional well-being, including health promotion and illness prevention. Self-management focuses on individuals actively managing chronic conditions with healthcare providers, emphasizing informed decision-making and collaborative efforts.