Toward a nursing theory of health empowerment in homebound older women.

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to identify the essential structure of health empowerment from an experience in which homebound older women felt able to change, improve, or participate in their health. The long-term goal of this study was to further refine the theory of health empowerment to guide development of clinical practice strategies for nurses working with homebound older women. Fourteen homebound older women, ages 69 to 94, were interviewed. The findings support the idea of health empowerment as a participatory process in which women engage their personal and social contextual resources in ways that facilitate well-being.