The purpose of this paper is to develop a self-management education model for older adults with chronic illness based on concept of health promotion by literature review. Literature was searched with key words, health promotion, self-care, self-management, chronic illness, aged, and self-care education on electronic data bases and traditional library. As the results of literature review, health promotion behavior was defined as empowering process to increase control for health protection, disease prevention, health improvement and reservation of functioning, and health education is utilized as an important resources for this process. There were important strategies of health promotion for older adults with chronic illness: balancing, monitoring, mobilize resoures, and accepting the illness. Common self-management programs were for patients with arthritis, heart failure, COPD. and diabetes which self-management has crucial impact on prognosis of the disease. The self-management education can be categorized as knowledge, skills and attitudes. Knowledge includes understanding the nature of the disease, skills includes learning management skills to control symptoms of disease and for rehabilitation through improving self-efficacy. Attitude includes accepting disease and empowerment. The older adults use self-management education as a resource for health promotion strategy. As the results of utilizing health promotion strategies, the person will be able to perform self-management behavior. The outcomes of self management behavior are better health status and independence, less consumption of health care cost, better physiological Index, and better quality of life. The model needs to be tested empirically and developed further in the future.