A study of self-care practices and definitions of health and illness among homeless men

This descriptive study was designed to identify common themes in definitions of health and illness and self-care practices of homeless males in Knoxville, Tennessee. Orem's self-care theory and Smith's four models of health were used as the conceptual framework. Further, attempts were made to determine if there was any relationship between the definitions of health and illness and self-care practices. Each subject provided demographic information and participated in an interview. Reld notes made at the time of the inten/iew were also used as a means of evaluation. The most common definition of health and illness for this sample was related to the ability to perform expected roles. Frequently used self-care practices included the balance between rest and activity and the avoidance of hazards to human life. Commonly experienced self-care deficits were oppressive living conditions, abrupt changes in residence, and loss of personal items or job security. There appeared to be some association between demographic variables, such as race, and definitions of health and illness. There was also some association between self-care practices, such as the avoidance of hazards to human life, and deficits and definitions of health and illness. Subjects who had a clinical definitions of health and illness appeared to be more concerned with a desire to be normal and hygiene. The study supported several changes in the way health care providers attend to the health care needs of the homeless population. Given the nature of the prevalent definitions of health and illness held by the homeless, health care providers must work to avoid ethnocentric biases in devising programs of education and care for the homeless. For example, a the commonly described role-performance definition of illness among the homeless made it less likely for them to seek timely care. Health care providers need to be aware of this. Moreover, some routines of shelters, such as the dispensing and handling of medications for shelter residents, the provision of sound nutrition, and the basic health screening of shelter residents could be improvement. Since the sample size was small and the research was a descriptive study, further large scale studies would be appropriate to discover whether the relationships that appeared to exist hold for larger populations and whether other undiscerned relationships exist.