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Self Care Forum Board Member, Renata Drinkwater asks “what are you doing for Self Care Week?”

 “We are seeing rising demand for services, underperformance against targets and record financial deficits in the NHS. Now is the time for the system to get serious about self care, and the Self Care Forum can help,” says Renata.

Originally established in May 2011, the Self Care Forum (now an independent charitable body) is the national UK organisation which aims to further the reach of self care and embed it into everyday life, making it a lifelong habit and culture.

The Self Care Forum is not a directly patient or consumer facing entity, but crucially it provides resources for NHS organisations, local authorities and the voluntary and private sector to help support people to take better care of their own health. Helping people to help themselves in this way not only benefits them individually and collectively, but also reduces demand and cost in the wider healthcare system.

One of the Self Care Forum’s key aims is to promote the concept of self care through Self Care Week, which is an annual national awareness week that focuses on establishing support for self care for patients, carers and communities. The Self Care Forum strongly believes that self care messages have a greater impact when they are being repeated by many voices through different media at the same time, making a greater impact and reaching more of the population.

Self Care Week therefore provides people-facing organisations with a focus so that they can action targeted campaigns to support people to take care of their health and wellbeing and improve their understanding of doing so.

This year’s Self Care Week takes place from 14-20 November 2016. Its theme is ‘Understanding self care for life’. This is a suitable message for all ages, both genders and allows flexibility to focus on physical health or mental wellbeing, or indeed both.

The Self Care Forum can help you promote this message by providing material and ideas to help you plan for Self Care Week, whatever the level of resources you have available

For example, our Self Care Forum website contains resources that you are welcome to use as part of your campaign. Here are examples of what is available:

  • Fact Sheets
  • Leaflets
  • Posters
  • Web buttons and banners
  • Sample press releases/articles.

In terms of ideas, we can offer you thoughts whether if you have very limited, moderate or more extensive resources available. Moreover, we can help you with appropriate messages on a wide range of self care related issues, for example on themes such as:

  • Self care for life – what it means
  • Mental health and self care
  • Making better use of Pharmacy resources
  • NHS Choices information about self care
  • How to use Accident & Emergency services more effectively
  • How to become more active
  • How to help self manage Long Term Conditions
  • Occupational Health – how to self care at work
  • How to make better use of Antibiotics.

You will also be able to access inspirational stories from areas across the country that have delivered excellent Self Care Week campaigns over the past few years.

We review the impact of Self Care Week nationally every year and would like to encourage you to do the same. Here are some economical ways of evaluating your campaign:

  • Use an online survey provider such as Survey Monkey to ask target audiences how the campaign has impacted on the local community.
  • Search the internet for local press coverage.
  • Keep track of the number of posters, leaflets, etc that have been distributed.
  • Monitor take up of any services/ initiatives launched.
  • For online content, find out the number of page views and click through.

You can share your evaluations with us after Self Care Week here: selfcare@selfcareforum.org.

Finally, we hope you will join us in promoting self care and Self Care Week. Good luck with your campaign!

The Self Care Forum was established in 2011 and has recently become an independent charity with the aim to “further the reach of self care and embed it into everybody’s everyday life, making it a lifelong habit and culture.”  For more details about the work of the Self Care Forum go to www.selfcareforum.org or contact selfcare@selfcareforum.org. You can also sign up for our newsletter to keep in touch with all latest Self Care Week news.

Renata Drinkwater is a Non Executive Director of the Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care and a Non Executive Director of Basildon and Thurrock University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. She is also a Board member of the Self Care Forum.

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