It was objectified to identify to the definitions and/or explanations on the term self-management in the educative programs that aim at this objective; to describe its educative plans and its results. Integrative review, with 15 published articles (2002 the 2007). The inclusion criteria had been: to contain the term self-management; to contain an educative program for the self-management; to become related it the area of the health of the adult. Self-management means the improvement or acquisition of abilities to solve problems in the scopes biological, social and affective. The review pointed different methodologies of education, however it had predominance of traditional methods, with conceptual contents and of physiopathology nature. The learning was evaluated as favorable, with warnings how much to the application in different populations and contexts and increase of cost of the educative intervention. It was concluded that the research had evidenced the importance of the education for the self-management, but had denoted fragility for not relating the biopsychosocial demands of the chronic patient and for at great length not clarifying the methodologies of used education and evaluation.
Self care; Health education; Chronic disease
