Lymphoedema is a life-long condition and the rehabilitative therapeutic model of holistic approach has to include the self-management considering that it is designed to achieve not only short-medium term results, but also in the long term.
Self-management is achieved through therapeutic education (understanding of cause-evolution-cure of lymphoedema), which requires patient's adherence, and caregiver if necessary, which is reachable through an optimal communication (demonstration of empathy-ability to listen and understand discomfort-use of simple language), the evaluation of the characteristics of the patient /caregiver (age, psychological condition, cultural condition) and the respect  for their latency time (understand a concept-be aware of it-put it into practice).
Therapeutic education includes information on hygienic-behavioral rules, self-assessment of oedema, skin care, body weight control, physical activity, combined self-management (manual self-drainage, self-bandage), management of the elastic brace.
With regards to the self-efficacy tool for children the visual art methodology  is useful for the description of living and self-managing, while for teenagers the use of cameras to take photos is more useful.
Parents experienced difficulty before receiving a diagnosis and an appropriate treatment and younger children found self-management boring and restrictive and felt negative about the limitations imposed by their parents due to the fear of worsening of lymphoedema.