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Self-care doesn’t just help to relieve pressure on healthcare services – it’s also a means of empowering communities to take their health into their own hands, and it can help to balance health inequalities too. Each year on 24 July, International Self-Care Day takes place to remind people of the role they can play in their own health journey.
The theme?
This year, the campaign focuses on recognising self-care as being at the forefront of prevention. “Prevent disease. Detect early. Improve quality of life. Avoid unnecessary interventions,” says the Self-Care Federation, which runs the event.
“Prevention can begin with something as ordinary as a tube of toothpaste, a nicotine patch or a sachet of oral rehydration salts. These are frontline prevention tools used by billions of people every day,” says the Federation.
“When used consistently, everyday self-care products prevent disease, improve quality of life and help avoid unnecessary interventions. They also ease pressure on health budgets and strengthen health systems by allowing resources to be directed where they are needed most.”
Your role
Pharmacy teams can play a pivotal role in passing this message on to customers, especially those in rural areas where healthcare can be difficult to access, and in places where socioeconomic factors may act as a barrier. “Self-care is not an afterthought,” says the Federation. “It is a strategic investment in health, equity and system resilience.”
Pharmacy teams can find out more by visiting the Self-Care Federation website, here.
Other self-care resources include:
- Self-care is health care: self-care-is-healthcare.org
- Self-care Forum: selfcareforum.org
- PAGB: pagb.co.uk/policy/self-care.
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