HEALTH

 Self-care has been defined as the process of establishing behaviors to ensure holistic well-being of oneself, to promote health, and actively manage illness when it occurs. Individuals engage in some form of self-care daily with food choices, exercise, sleep, and hygiene.Self-care is not only a solo activity, as the community—a group that supports the person performing self-care—overall plays a role in access to, implementation of, and success of self-care activities.

Routine self-care is important when someone is not experiencing any symptoms of illness, but self-care becomes essential when illness occurs. General benefits of routine self-care include prevention of illness, improved mental health, and comparatively better quality of life. Self-care practices vary from individual to individual. Self-care is seen as a partial solution to the global rise in health care costs that is placed on governments worldwide.

A lack of self-care in terms of personal health, hygiene and living conditions is referred to as self-neglect. Caregivers or personal care assistants may be needed. There is a growing body of knowledge related to these home care workers.

Self-care and self-management, as described by Lorig and Holman, are closely related concepts. In their spearheading paper, they defined three self-management tasks: medical management, role management, and emotional management; and six self-management skills: problem solving, decision making, resource utilization, the formation of a patient–provider partnership, action planning, and self-tailoring.

History

Spending time with friends is a form of self-care.

While the concept of self care has received increased attention in recent years, it has ancient origins. Socrates has been credited with founding the self-care movement in ancient Greece, and care are of oneself and loved ones has been shown to exist since human beings appeared on earth.

Self-care has also been connected to the Black feminist movement through civil rights activist and poet Audre Lorde. Self-care was used to preserve black feminist's identities, energize their activism, and preserve their minds during the civil rights movement.

Self-care remains a primary form of personal and community healthcare worldwide; self-care practices vary greatly around the world.

Self-care and illness

Getting an appropriate amount of sleep each night is a form of self-care.

Chronic illness (a health condition that is persistent and long lasting, often impacts one's whole life, e.g., heart failure, diabetes, high blood pressure) requires behaviors that control the illness, decrease symptoms, and improve survival such as medication adherence and symptom monitoring. An acute illness like an infection (e.g., COVID) requires the same types of self-care behaviors required of people with a chronic illness, but the medication adherence and symptom monitoring behaviors associated with an acute illness are typically short lived. Routine health maintenance self-care behaviors that individuals engage in (e.g., adequate sleep) are still required of those dealing with acute or chronic illness.

For the majority of people with a chronic illness, time spent having that illness managed by a health professional is vastly outweighed by time spent in self-care. It has been estimated that most people with a chronic illness spend only about 0.001% or 10 hours per year of their time with a healthcare provider. In people with chronic illness, self-care is associated with fewer symptoms, fewer hospitalizations, better quality of life, and longer survival compared to individuals in whom self-care is poor. Self-care can be physically and mentally difficult for those with chronic illness, as their illness is persistent and treated in a vastly different manner from an acute illness.

Factors influencing self-care

There are numerous factors that affect self-care.These factors can be grouped as personal factors (e.g., person, problem, and environment), external factors, and processes.

Personal factors:

• Lack of motivation: when one doesn’t have enough energy. This can be caused by stress, anxiety, or other mental health illnesses.

• Cultural beliefs: this includes traditional gender roles, family relationships, collectivism. This can also affect self care behaviors.

• Self-efficacy or confidence: one’s confidence can positively or negatively affect their mental state.

• Functional and cognitive abilities: by not being perfect humans, one tends to focus on their weakness.

• Support from others: such as from family or friends can be crucial to have a healthy and positive mindset to do self-care.

• Access to care: depending on the self-care some require specific resources or objects in order to carry out.

External factors:

• Living situation: can greatly affect an individual’s self-care.

• Surrounding environment: must be safe and promote self-care for all residents.

• Proximity of health care facilities: are important to have at a close radius from one’s household. As well as office/clinic opening hours and affordability must be taken into consideration.

Processes:

• Experiences

• Knowledge

• Skill

• Values

Taking needed medicines is a form of self-care that may be difficult for people with memory problems. A box that organizes the correct pills for each day of the week may help.

Self-care practices are shaped by what are seen as the proper lifestyle choices of local communities. Social determinants of health play an important role in self-care practices.Internal personal factors such as motivation, emotions, and cognitive abilities also influence self-care maintenance behaviors. Motivation is often the driving force behind performing self-care maintenance behaviors. Goal setting is a practice associated with motivated self care. A person with depression is more likely to have a poor dietary intake low in fruits and vegetables, reduced physical activity, and poor medication adherence. An individual with impaired cognitive or functional abilities (e.g., memory impairment) also has a diminished capacity to perform self-care maintenance behaviors such as medication adherence which relies on memory to maintain a schedule.

Self-care is influenced by an individual's attitude and belief in his or her self-efficacy or confidence in performing tasks and overcoming barriers. Cultural beliefs and values may also influence self-care. Cultures that promote a hard-working lifestyle may view self-care in contradictory waysPersonal values have been shown to have an effect on self-care in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus.

Social support systems can influence how an individual performs self-care maintenance. Social support systems include family, friends, and other community or religious support groups. These support systems provide opportunities for self-care discussions and decisions. Shared care can reduce stress on individuals with chronic illness.

See also: Activities of daily living

There are numerous self-care requisites applicable to all individuals of all ages for the maintenance of health and well-being. The balance between solitude or rest, and activities such as social interactions is a key tenet of self-care practices. The prevention and avoidance of human hazards and participation in social groups are also requisites. The autonomous performance of self-care behaviors is thought to aid elderly patients. Perceived autonomy, self-efficacy and adequate illness representation are additional elements of self-care, which are said to aid people with chronic conditions.

Measurement of self-care behaviors

A variety of self-report instruments have been developed to allow clinicians and researchers to measure the level of self-care in different situations for both patients and their caregivers: These instruments are freely available in numerous languages. Many of these instruments have a caregiver version available to encourage dyadic research.

• Self-Care Heart Failure Index

• Self-Care of Hypertension Inventory

• Self-Care of Diabetes Inventory

• Self-Care of Coronary Heart Disease Inventory

• Self-Care of Chronic Illness Inventory

• Self-care of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

Middle-range theory of self-care of chronic illness

See also: Disease management (health)

According to the middle-range theory of chronic illness, these behaviors are captured in the concepts of self-care maintenance, self-care monitoring, and self-care management. Self-care maintenance refers to those behaviors used to maintain physical and emotional stability. Self-care monitoring is the process of observing oneself for changes in signs and symptoms. Self-care management is the response to signs and symptoms when they occur. The recognition and evaluation of symptoms is a key aspect of self-care.