Gross mode, the promotion of self-care obeys the guidelines of international organizations that seek to reduce social spending in medical care, but with the emphasis on personal responsibility. The objective of the present work is to discuss this formula, establishing a model for the study of the phenomenon. A documentary work was done with a non - probabilistic selection of sources indexed to national repositories, considering publication, and the inclusion of concepts "health policy", "health care programs", "prevention strategies" and "self-care". There are lines of investigation concerning the extension of the model.