Introduction:

self-care is the practice of activities that people do voluntarily which ensure life, health and well-being. Promoting self-care in the elderly becomes a strategy for the management of chronic diseases such as acute myocardial infarction.

Objectives:

to characterize self-care in the elderly with acute myocardial infarction and develop an educational guidance strategy in order to promote it.

Method:

a qualitative and quantitative study was carried out, with the design of an educational orientation strategy. The sample consisted of 15 older adults attending the cardiovascular rehabilitation gymnasium of "Vladimir I. Lenin" General University Hospital. Methods such as surveys, interviews and observation were used. Based on the results of the diagnosis, an orientation strategy was designed and it was evaluated by expert criteria: 7 specialists.

Results:

patients with a low level of self-care capacity predominated (66.6%). The level of knowledge about the risk factors of acute myocardial infarction was also low; 46% knew about blood pressure control, 60%, about smoking and 55.7%, about excessive alcohol consumption. The other risk factors were not known sufficiently. In relation to lifestyle after the infarction, 9 patients (60%) had limited knowledge of it, but the rest had no knowledge at all. 73% of the older adults had emotional disturbances; 100% felt that their interpersonal relationships were favorable.

Conclusions:

the majority of the patients had a low level of self-care ability. After the diagnosis, an educational orientation strategy was designed and satisfactorily assessed by expert criteria.

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