July 24th marks International Self-Care Day, an annual opportunity to put a spotlight on self-care and the benefit effective self-care can bring to both individuals and healthcare systems as a vital foundation of health. International Self-Care Day was initiated back in 2011, and takes place every year on 24th July demonstrating the importance of self-care to be employed 24 hours a day, and 7 days a week (24/7).
Aligning with the WHO/UN ‘HealthForAll’ campaign to promote Universal Health Coverage by 2030, we have adopted the theme #Selfcareforall
Context
According to the World Health Organization, there will be an estimated shortage of 18 million health workers by 2030. And, as it stands, there are at least 400 million people across the world who lack access to the most essential health services. The world needs innovative strategies that look beyond the traditional model for healthcare.
Solution
As self-care providers, we should work together to deliver universal health coverage to improve health outcomes, but also help reduce poverty, promote gender equality and protect the most vulnerable people across the world. For successful universal healthcare, we need to enable people to be active decision-makers in their own healthcare rather than passive recipients.
Effective self-care ensures people are empowered to prevent, test for and treat their health conditions themselves. The number of health issues that can be handled through self-care continues to grow. Facilitating improved levels of health literacy ensures people can take charge of their own health with evidence-based self-care interventions.
Self-care should be a greater priority in all societies because it improves healthcare by:
- increasing coverage and access
- reducing health disparities and increasing equity
- increasing quality of services
- improving health, human rights and social outcomes
- reducing costs and making more efficient use of healthcare resources and services
Engagement
Over the next few weeks, we will be advocating the broad range of benefits offered by self-care, as well as the trends shaping the future direction of the self-care industry.
So on this year’s International Self-Care Day, why not help us spread the word and help to put a spotlight on the added value of self-care!