What is Self Care?
Self Care can empower you by giving you the knowledge and the tools to improve the quality of your daily life. There are many sides to Self Care: brushing your teeth, ensuring a balanced diet and taking regular exercise are fundamental to everyday health.
You can also treat minor symptoms such as a mild headache or a cold yourself, using products purchased over-the-counter at your local pharmacy or grocery store. In the case of chronic, or longer-term conditions or to maintain and increase wellness, many people choose to use Self Care health products as supplements or in combination with prescription medicines. Examples of these are vitamin supplements, fish oils and glucosamine products. Please note however, that you should always advise your health practitioner of all the products you are using, be they prescription or non-prescription.
ASMI envisions a future for Australia where all our citizens are educated about Self Care and have easy access to Self Care tools and products (for information on Self Care products, see the Consumer section of this site).
Click here to view ASMI's Self Care External Paper - March 2009
WHO definition
In 1998, a special working group of the World Health Organization (WHO) offered an inclusive definition of Self Care:
"Self Care in health refers to the activities individuals, families and communities undertake with the intention of enhancing health, preventing disease, limiting illness, and restoring health. These activities are derived from knowledge and skills from the pool of both professional and lay experience. They are undertaken by lay people on their own behalf, either separately or in participative collaboration with professionals."