In a two-part article, Paul Horan and colleagues explore the relevance of this popular nursing model from a variety of perspectives. Can Orem’s self-care deficit nursing theory be helpful in meeting the needs of people with learning disabilities?

Orem’s self-care deficit nursing theory (Orem 2001) is widely used and accepted by nurses (Taylor 2002) and is one of the most frequently used theories in general nursing practice (Alligood and Marriner-Tomey 2002). This paper attempts to evaluate the theory as a means to address the unique needs of people with intellectual disabilities. Fawcett’s (1995) template for critically analysing conceptual models is used. Fawcett (1995) noted that the concepts and propositions of this theory could also be considered at the level of abstraction and generality of conceptual models, and referred to it as Orem’s self-care framework. This author (Fawcett 2000) acknowledged that this framework is widely recognised as a conceptual model. In discussion and practical application it is also referred to as ‘the self-care model’ (Pearson et al 2000). This term will be used throughout this discussion.