The role of self-care in public health

Self-care is understood to be a critical issue in optimising public health interventions, improving community health, and aiding care access for those living with chronic disease.
The World Health Organization (WHO) defines self-care as “the ability of individuals, families and communities to promote their own health, prevent disease, maintain health, and to cope with illness and disability with or without the support of a health worker.”
Evidence-based, cost-effective self-care interventions include making some contraceptive products, pregnancy tests, condoms and lubricants available over-the-counter; HPV and STI self-sampling and HIV self-tests; and self-monitoring of blood pressure and blood glucose.
“Self-care needs to be a fundamental focus for public health, and health and wellbeing research moving forward," says principal investigator Distinguished Professor John Adams, from University of Technology, Sydney.