Self-care styles in military veterans.

ABSTRACT

Understanding of self-care behaviors in veterans has been hampered by lack of a framework by which to describe styles or patterns of individual self-care. The primary purpose of this study was to identify consciously performed health practices in 69 U.S. military veterans and to categorize these behaviors into styles. Four categories of self-care were described based on the nature and extent of health concerns addressed by individual health regimens and on the types of resources utilized. Membership in the various categories was not related to age, sex, race, or health status of veteran subjects, but was significantly related to scores on Kearney and Fleischer's Exercise of Self-Care Agency Instrument.