Self-care: re-thinking the role of compliance.

This paper argues for a research approach that recognises that people make choices about their compliance to medical regimens according to their own perceptions of their needs, regardless of whether these conform to professionals' perceptions of needs. This approach requires an acceptance of a construction of reality that allows for personal experience to be accepted as having a truth of its own. The relationship between a reconstructed conceptualisation of self-care and the emancipation and empowerment of people with chronic illnesses is discussed.