self-maintenance

noun

1. the act of maintaining: the maintenance of proper oral hygiene.
2. the state of being maintained: the maintenance of friendly relations with England.
3. care or upkeep, as of machinery or property: With proper maintenance the car will last for many years.
4. means of upkeep, support, or subsistence; livelihood: to provide a comfortable maintenance.
5. alimony or child support.
6. Law. an officious meddling in a suit in which the meddler has no interest, by assisting either party with means to prosecute or defend it.

adjective

7. Pharmacology, Psychiatry. administered to sustain a desired physiological or mental condition: maintenance dose.

noun

1. the act of maintaining or the state of being maintained
2. a means of support; livelihood
3. (modifier) of or relating to the maintaining of buildings, machinery, etcmaintenance man
4. law (formerly unlawful) the interference in a legal action by a person having no interest in it, as by providing funds to continue the actionSee also champerty
5. law a provision ordered to be made by way of periodical payments or a lump sum, as after a divorce for a spouse
6. computing
   1. the correction or prevention of faults in hardware by a programme of inspection and the replacement of parts
   2. the removal of existing faults and the modification of software in response to changes in specification or environment

n.mid-14c., “bearing, deportment,” from Old French maintenance “upkeep; shelter, protection,: from maintenir (see maintain). Meaning “action of upholding or keeping in being” is from early 15c. “Action of providing a person with the necessities of life” is from late 14c. n.

1. The extent to which a patient continues good health practices without professional supervision, as distinguished from adherence or compliance.