With increasing demands for greater cost-effectiveness and the recognition of the importance of
health self-care behaviors, social work interventions need to be developed that reach more
individuals and reach medical treatment arenas where, previously, traditional medical care was
the only option. This article describes an example of intervention research (codeveloped by a
social worker) designed to improve urologic self-care for women presenting to a urology clinic
with frequency-urgency syndrome. Five women kept daily diary data on their urinary frequency
and then received a pamphlet of behavioral recommendations developedfrom the Health Belief
Model, Self-Efficacy Theory, the Theory of Reasoned Action and other compliance-enhancement
strategies. Three women showed improvement in their frequency of urination, one showed
improvement in her unpleasant urges, and one showed no change in either self-care behaviors
or clinical outcome. Implications for future research are discussed.
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