Self-Care empowers consumers by giving them the knowledge and tools to improve the quality of their daily life.
Individuals can often treat minor symptoms such as a mild headache or a cold themselves, using products purchased over-the-counter at the 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 consumer health products such as vitamins.
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."
One of CHP Australia’s key strategic objectives is to champion Self-Care, with the ultimate goal to gain recognition for it as an integral element of a coordinated and comprehensive national health policy.
Many CHP Australia Members have products that can play a significant role in the National Health Priority Areas (NHP) both in prevention and disease state management.
