Power, self-care and health in women living in urban squatter settlements in Karachi, Pakistan: a test of Orem's theory.

This was a study of health in women living in urban squatter settlements in Karachi, Pakistan. The study grew out of the author's concern for the generally poor health status of Pakistani women. Orem's nursing theory was selected to examine health in these women. The purpose of the study was to examine relationships among basic conditioning factors, self-care agency (specifically, perception of power as a foundational capability of self-care agency and the enabling capabilities of self-care agency), self-care, and selected health outcomes of Pakistani women. Four hypotheses were developed and tested. They were that in a group of Pakistani women: (1) perception of power as a foundational capability and enabling capabilities of self-care agency and self-care will be related to selected basic conditioning factors; (2) perception of power, as a foundational capability of self-care agency, will be directly and positively related to enabling capabilities of self-care agency; (3) perception of power as a foundational capability and enabling capabilities of self-care agency will have a direct and positive relationship with self-care; and (4) self-care will be related to selected health outcomes. Hypotheses one, two and three were supported. Findings indicate that the basic conditioning factors, socioeconomic variables, ethnicity and roles, were predictive of perception of power, enabling capabilities of self-care agency, self-care and health. Hypothesis four was not supported; basic conditioning factors had more influence on health than self-care.