Discussion
We have articulated three tentative models based on the data
generated with participants. Although self-management was
shown to have multiple meanings, the dominant model was
medical self-management. In addition, much of the literature
assumes that self-management means the same to all people –
both professionals and those living with a chronic condition.
The role of the ‘self’ was excluded from these discourses;
instead, the focus was on medication compliance. However,
sometimes alternative or ‘softer’ terms such as adherence and
concordance have been used.
In this study it was identified that the major constraint on
self-management was a narrow conception as solely medical
management, and notions of patients’ self-agency were
dismissed. Yet participants who had asthma since childhood
were experts in their own self-management, although they
were not always acknowledged as such. They were conver-
sant with medical asthma management in the first instance,
and subsequently managed the ‘self’ in the context of their
lives. They had developed a sense of mastery (Kralik 2002).
Here the term ‘self-management’ makes reference to the
activities these people have undertaken to create order,
discipline and control in their lives (Kralik et al. 2003).
Whilst we have identified three models of asthma manage-
ment, we are not to first to use the term ‘model’ to describe
self-management. The first two models have been previously
articulated by Bodenheimer et al. (2002); however, the self-
agency model of self-management is our theoretical contri-
bution. Older people who had lived with asthma for most of
their lives were clearly experts in the management of their
condition. Experts in management of the self often have a
long learning history, especially when they have lived with
this condition most of their lives. Those older people in our
study who were at an expert level of ‘self’-management were
able to conceptualize and use these influences in ways that
enhanced their health. With this awareness, they manipulated
the extended and external environment to suit their current
situation. Changes in medical management supported by
research were monitored with vigilance. Those who had had
asthma since childhood had seen many management changes,
and keeping informed meant that they would be the first to
know about better ways to manage their condition. They
recognized that asthma fluctuated as life and the illness
combined to present new challenges.
When medical help was sought, participants preferred this
assistance in collaboration with health care professionals.
This was congruent with the collaborative model of care
identified by Bodenheimer et al. (2002). What made the
interaction different was that it was their decision to enter
this model when acute events occurred or other medical
treatment was sought, rather than a health professional
benevolently deciding that this was the best course to steer.
Taking control of their own lives was crucial in managing the
self. Helping oneself was an important aspect of living with
asthma, and taking action to deal with the condition was a
part of everyday life. Even for these self-determining experts,
management of the ‘self’ was seen as a full-time job.