Self care: an integral component of healthcare today

Introduction

As the experts in medicines, pharmacists are well versed in ensuring that their customers and patients get the best treatment possible. These skills have been stretched and honed over the last two years during the Covid-19 pandemic, when alternative sources of immediate healthcare were challenging either to access or to contemplate.

By being in the frontline of healthcare, pharmacists and their teams see people when they are healthy; when they choose not to, or cannot easily, visit other healthcare professionals, as well as when they are unwell. So, you are in an ideal place to play an integral part in supporting their ongoing self care.  

The original vision for self care

The Self Care Forum has defined self care as the actions that individuals take for themselves, on behalf of and with others in order to develop, protect, maintain and improve their health, wellbeing or wellness. 

Contrary to popular belief, self care is not a new concept. The Self care: An ethical imperative report was launched in 2010. In 2011, the Self Care Forum was founded as a partnership between some eminent GPs, NHS England, the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) and the National Association for Patient Participation (NAPP).

Its stated purpose is to further the reach of self care and to embed it into everyday life. The Forum believes that:  

• The original NHS mandate is a blueprint for the integration for self care throughout the NHS
• There needs to be a whole systems approach to delivering care
• For this to be successful, there must be inclusion of opportunities to self care 
• Self care is not something to be added once everything else has been put in place
• The NHS must support people to self care at every appropriate contact.

The concept has the backing of the World Health Organization (WHO), whose director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has stated: ”Self care must work as an extension of the health system, so that while people are using self care interventions, they can also access the health system and community support for further assistance when needed.”

In 2022, the WHO published a revised version of its guideline on self care interventions for health and wellbeing. The guideline looks at how the concept is deployed internationally, including the impact pharmacies can have through the availability of over the counter medicines and, increasingly, diagnostics. 

For self care to be an acceptable progression in modern healthcare, there must be observable benefits across the participants in the sector:

• Empowers people with relevant information
• Increases confidence and informed decision making
• Gives people greater control of their own health
• Encourages healthy behaviours that help prevent ill health in the long-term
• People can take care of their minor ailments, reducing GP consultations
• Allows cost effective use of stretched NHS resources
• Increased personal responsibility around healthcare helps improve people’s health and wellbeing 
• Facilitates better management of people and resources.

Key points in making self care the ‘go to’ option include healthcare professionals actively supporting it as an option, proactively managing individuals’ expectations and giving consideration to context and social circumstances. Eighty per cent of GP consultations include a self care element if self management is included.