SELF CARE

What is Self Care?

The care we take towards our own health and wellbeing.

Includes care given to children, family, friends and others in your neighbourhoods and local communities

Self-care includes any action you take to:

stay fit and maintain good physical and mental health;
prevent illness or accidents;
care for minor ailments and long-term conditions;
maintain health after an illness or discharge from hospital

Around 80% of all care in the UK is self care. The majority of people feel comfortable managing everyday minor ailments like coughs and colds themselves; particularly when they feel confident in recognising the symptoms and have successfully treated using an over-the-counter (OTC) medicine before.

On average, people in the UK experience nearly four symptoms every fortnight, the three commonest being feeling tired/run down, headaches and joint pain and most of these are managed in the community without people seeking professional healthcare.

Despite people’s willingness to initially self-treat, there are still 57 million GP consultations a year for minor ailments at a total cost to the NHS of £2 billion, which takes up, on average, an hour a day for every GP.