In general, the Self-Care Deficit Theory by Dorothea Orem hypothesizes that people can engage in self-care activities and will only seek help when they face challenges; a nurse's primary role is to fill in the gaps (Younas, 2017). In the model, Orem assumes that human beings maintain a continuous connection and communication with their environment as a means of remaining functional, they deliberately act to identify personal needs and make necessary decisions, and that a related human group will take an initiative to care for members to keep it functioning optimally.
The major components of this theoretical model include nursing, humans, environment, health, self-care, and nursing system, among others. The model defines nursing as the art of offering specialized assistance to humans (men, women, or children) who can no longer do it for themselves (Younas, 2017). The environment, with biological, chemical, and physical features, comprises family or even the community. Health is simply referred to as a state of wholeness or soundness both in terms of structure and function. Self-care includes all activities that a person initiates on their own to maintain a state of wholeness.