Abstract
The disability after a stroke results in reduced self-care capacity and lower levels of self-efficacy in survivors. Exploiting a holistic self-care plan to strengthen internal resources in clients can be thus deemed as an effective solution. This study aimed to determine the effect of self-care nurturance using the Theory of Modeling/Role-Modeling (TMRM) on self-efficacy in stroke clients. A randomized controlled trial was conducted at Qaem Hospital, Mashhad, Iran, in 2020. For this purpose, 70 clients were randomly assigned to 2 groups. Then, the experimental group received self-care nurturance based on the TMRM, all through 4 to 6 individual sessions of 30 to 45 minutes in the hospital, and subsequently 2 sessions of telephone counseling up to 8 weeks after the discharge. With reference to patient evaluation in terms of self-care resources, knowledge, and actions, the researcher also tried to strengthen such factors based on the individual needs of each client. The control group received routine care. The data were collected through completing a demographic/disease information form at the onset and the Stroke Self-Efficacy Questionnaire (SSEQ) before the intervention, 4 and 8 weeks after it. The results revealed that the self-efficacy mean scores of the experimental group, in the course of 3 measurement stages, had significantly improved, compared with that in the control group (P = .018). It was concluded that applying the TMRM could strengthen internal and external resources and self-care knowledge in stroke patients, develop their self-care actions, and improve their levels of self-efficacy.