Self-care
Encyclopedia
Self care is personal health maintenance. It is any activity of an individual, family or community, with the intention of improving or restoring health, or treating or preventing disease.
Self care includes all health decisions people (as individuals or consumers) make for themselves and their families to get and stay physically
and mentally fit
. Self care is exercising
to maintain physical fitness and good mental health. It is also eating well
, self-medicating
, practicing good hygiene
and avoiding health hazards such as smoking
and drinking
to prevent ill health. Self care is also taking care of minor ailments, long term conditions, or one’s own health after discharge from secondary and tertiary health care.
Individuals do self care, and experts and professionals support self care to enable individuals to do enhanced self care.
Self care support has crucial enabling value and considerable scope in developing countries with an already overburdened health care system. But it also has an essential role to play in affluent countries where people are becoming more conscious about their health and want to have a greater role in taking care of themselves.
To enable people to do enhanced self care, they can be supported in various ways and by different service providers.
Self care includes all health decisions people (as individuals or consumers) make for themselves and their families to get and stay physically
Physical fitness
Physical fitness comprises two related concepts: general fitness , and specific fitness...
and mentally fit
Mental health
Mental health describes either a level of cognitive or emotional well-being or an absence of a mental disorder. From perspectives of the discipline of positive psychology or holism mental health may include an individual's ability to enjoy life and procure a balance between life activities and...
. Self care is exercising
Physical exercise
Physical exercise is any bodily activity that enhances or maintains physical fitness and overall health and wellness. It is performed for various reasons including strengthening muscles and the cardiovascular system, honing athletic skills, weight loss or maintenance, as well as for the purpose of...
to maintain physical fitness and good mental health. It is also eating well
Healthy diet
A healthy diet is one that helps maintain or improve general health. It is important for lowering many chronic health risks, such as obesity, heart disease, diabetes, hypertension and cancer. A healthy diet involves consuming appropriate amounts of all essential nutrients and an adequate amount of...
, self-medicating
Self-medication
Self-medication is a term used to describe the use of drugs or other self-soothing forms of behavior to treat untreated and often undiagnosed mental distress, stress and anxiety, including mental illnesses and/or psychological trauma...
, practicing good hygiene
Hygiene
Hygiene refers to the set of practices perceived by a community to be associated with the preservation of health and healthy living. While in modern medical sciences there is a set of standards of hygiene recommended for different situations, what is considered hygienic or not can vary between...
and avoiding health hazards such as smoking
Smoking
Smoking is a practice in which a substance, most commonly tobacco or cannabis, is burned and the smoke is tasted or inhaled. This is primarily practised as a route of administration for recreational drug use, as combustion releases the active substances in drugs such as nicotine and makes them...
and drinking
Drinking
Drinking is the act of consuming water or a beverage through the mouth. Water is required for many of life’s physiological processes. Both excessive and inadequate water intake are associated with health problems.-Physiology:...
to prevent ill health. Self care is also taking care of minor ailments, long term conditions, or one’s own health after discharge from secondary and tertiary health care.
Individuals do self care, and experts and professionals support self care to enable individuals to do enhanced self care.
Self care support has crucial enabling value and considerable scope in developing countries with an already overburdened health care system. But it also has an essential role to play in affluent countries where people are becoming more conscious about their health and want to have a greater role in taking care of themselves.
To enable people to do enhanced self care, they can be supported in various ways and by different service providers.
Self care support
Self care support can include:- Self care information on health and human body systems, lifestyle, physical activityPhysical exercisePhysical exercise is any bodily activity that enhances or maintains physical fitness and overall health and wellness. It is performed for various reasons including strengthening muscles and the cardiovascular system, honing athletic skills, weight loss or maintenance, as well as for the purpose of...
, or healthy eatingNutritionNutrition is the provision, to cells and organisms, of the materials necessary to support life. Many common health problems can be prevented or alleviated with a healthy diet.... - Support for the capture, management, interpretation, and reporting of Observations of Daily LivingObservations of Daily LivingObservations of Daily Living are cues that people attend to in the course of their everyday life, that inform them about their health.ODLs are different from signs, symptoms, and clinical indicators in that they are defined by the patient, and are not necessarily directly mapped to biomedical...
(ODLs), the tracking of trends, and the use of the resulting information as clues for self care action and decision making. - Information prescriptions providing personalised information and instructions to enable an individual to self care and take control of their health
- Self care and self monitoring devices and assistive technologyAssistive technologyAssistive technology or adaptive technology is an umbrella term that includes assistive, adaptive, and rehabilitative devices for people with disabilities and also includes the process used in selecting, locating, and using them...
- Self care skills and life skillsLife skillsLife skills are problem solving behaviors used appropriately and responsibly in the management of personal affairs. They are a set of human skills acquired via teaching or direct experience that are used to handle problems and questions commonly encountered in daily human life...
training programmes and courses for people - Aid from spiritual care givers
- Advice from occupational therapists, pharmacistPharmacistPharmacists are allied health professionals who practice in pharmacy, the field of health sciences focusing on safe and effective medication use...
s, physiotherapists and complementary therapists - Self care support networksSupport groupIn a support group, members provide each other with various types of help, usually nonprofessional and nonmaterial, for a particular shared, usually burdensome, characteristic...
which can be face to face or virtualVirtual communityA virtual community is a social network of individuals who interact through specific media, potentially crossing geographical and political boundaries in order to pursue mutual interests or goals...
, and made up of peersPeer groupA peer group is a social group consisting of humans. Peer groups are an informal primary group of people who share a similar or equal status and who are usually of roughly the same age, tended to travel around and interact within the social aggregate Members of a particular peer group often have...
or people who want to provide support to others or receive support and information from others.Including a self care Primer for provider/consumer convergence
Self care approaches
Self care topics include:- General fitness trainingGeneral Fitness TrainingGeneral fitness training works towards broad goals of overall health and well-being, rather than narrow goals of sport competition, larger muscles or concerns over appearance...
- HealthHealthHealth is the level of functional or metabolic efficiency of a living being. In humans, it is the general condition of a person's mind, body and spirit, usually meaning to be free from illness, injury or pain...
- HygieneHygieneHygiene refers to the set of practices perceived by a community to be associated with the preservation of health and healthy living. While in modern medical sciences there is a set of standards of hygiene recommended for different situations, what is considered hygienic or not can vary between...
- Life extensionLife extensionLife extension science, also known as anti-aging medicine, experimental gerontology, and biomedical gerontology, is the study of slowing down or reversing the processes of aging to extend both the maximum and average lifespan...
- Life skillsLife skillsLife skills are problem solving behaviors used appropriately and responsibly in the management of personal affairs. They are a set of human skills acquired via teaching or direct experience that are used to handle problems and questions commonly encountered in daily human life...
- NootropicNootropicNootropics , also referred to as smart drugs, brain steroids, memory enhancers, cognitive enhancers, and intelligence enhancers, are drugs, supplements, nutraceuticals, and functional foods that improve mental functions such as cognition, memory, intelligence, motivation, attention, and concentration...
s - NutritionNutritionNutrition is the provision, to cells and organisms, of the materials necessary to support life. Many common health problems can be prevented or alleviated with a healthy diet....
- Physical exercisePhysical exercisePhysical exercise is any bodily activity that enhances or maintains physical fitness and overall health and wellness. It is performed for various reasons including strengthening muscles and the cardiovascular system, honing athletic skills, weight loss or maintenance, as well as for the purpose of...
- SleepSleepSleep is a naturally recurring state characterized by reduced or absent consciousness, relatively suspended sensory activity, and inactivity of nearly all voluntary muscles. It is distinguished from quiet wakefulness by a decreased ability to react to stimuli, and is more easily reversible than...
- Stress managementStress managementStress management is the alteration of stress and especially chronic stress often for the purpose of improving everyday functioning.Stress produces numerous symptoms which vary according to persons, situations, and severity. These can include physical health decline as well as depression. According...
- VitaminVitaminA vitamin is an organic compound required as a nutrient in tiny amounts by an organism. In other words, an organic chemical compound is called a vitamin when it cannot be synthesized in sufficient quantities by an organism, and must be obtained from the diet. Thus, the term is conditional both on...
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