Self Care Week 2020: supporting patients to 'self care for life'

Promoting self care is about giving patients the information, skills and confidence to make informed decisions and take rational actions. To re-engage with your patients after lock-down and help them look after their health during the coronavirus pandemic and beyond, consider taking part in the national Self Care Week

COVID-19 has forced nurses and other health professionals to adopt new ways of working. Remote consultations, wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) and social distancing have become the 'new normal', which can make finding the right time and settings to promote self care challenging.

In this article, we invite you to take part in Self Care Week 2020, which runs from 16 to 22 November 2020 under the theme of 'Live Self Care for Life'.

This initiative, organised by the Self Care Forum (http://www.selfcareforum.org/), aims to help you embed discussions around self care in your everyday work. Being involved in Self Care Week will give you, your team and your patients opportunities to learn new practical skills. You will be able to showcase your work and raise your practice's profile. In 2019, over 1,000 individuals and organisations took part.

Self Care Week 2020 allows you to explore a wealth of free resources. You can find out about best practice and learn from other surgeries - with a focus on self care during the COVID-19 pandemic.

If you like to plan and run an initiative or project for Self Care Week, this is the time to get started. If you fulfil the criteria, you can apply for the Self Care Week Awards, which offer a £500 prize for the winner (deadline for entries is 31 January 2021) and gives your work added exposure.

WHAT IS SELF CARE, AND WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?

Self care is about people taking an active part in managing their health to improve clinical outcomes and also reduce the number of avoidable consultations. According to the WHO, self care is about people's ability to:1

• Promote health
• Prevent disease
• Maintain health
• Cope with illness and disability

The Self Care Forum describes self care as 'the actions that individuals take for themselves, on behalf of and with others to develop, protect, maintain and improve their health, wellbeing or wellness.'2

In the context of COVID-19, self care also includes hygiene and taking personal responsibility for one's health and that of others.

'Self care' applies to acute illness or injuries and focuses on treatment, whereas 'self-management' offers a way for people with long term conditions to create a more sustainable way of living with a health condition.³

Supporting self care as a health professional involves life-long learning. While the principles behind self care will last, new tools and innovation will continue to emerge. Digital health technologies, for example, have great potential to inform and support patients in their self care journey.

Taking part in Self Care Week allows you to explore and test new ways of promoting self care, some of which may become part of routine practice.

HOW CAN I GET INVOLVED IN SELF CARE WEEK?

To help you get started, you can find free information and resources on the Self Care Forum website, including:

• Fact sheets
• Posters
• Case studies
• Communications documents
• Social media guides
• Digital assets for your website

FOLLOW THE EIGHT-POINT PLAN

Planning is crucial to make your Self Care Week initiative a success. Here are eight tips to get you started (find more detailed information and resources on the Self Care Forum website).

1. Define your aims and objectives.

Be clear about the goals for what you're trying to achieve. Think about your longer-term aims, which you can put into broad statements like "to engage people in self care behaviour" or "to engage students in improving their mental health and wellbeing. Objectives include more concrete actions that are 'SMART' (specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time-bound), such as 'to create new pages on our website to promote self care among carers on the practice website by the end of the month'.

2. Plan your project

Plan how you want to achieve your aims and objectives. For example, consider activities such as health promotion, campaigning and setting up project teams.

3. Work with others

How about teaming up with individual and organisations outside your practice? Working with others can help you pool resources and save you time. You may also build mutually beneficial new relationships. Consider collaborating with your local pharmacy, other surgeries, local businesses, gyms, NHS trusts or media outlets.

4. Reach your audience

Think about which audience(s) - such as new parents, the over 65s or people with hearing impairment - you want to reach, and tailor your messaging accordingly. Knowing your target audience will help you decide which communication platform(s) to use.

5. Promote your work

When planning your promotional activities, keep your aims and objectives as well as your target audiences in mind, so that you can reach people in a way that appeals to them. Possible promotional activities could include:

• Online games and quizzes
• Virtual coffee mornings
• Socially distanced lunchtime events
• Leaflets and posters
• Local media coverage and appearances
• Social media campaigns

6. Use the Self Care Week branding

Consider using the national 'Self Care Week' branding for your initiatives. Branded images and promotional materials give your project visibility and are available free-to-download from the Self Care Forum website. Using nationally available resources for local campaigns will also align your activities with other local, regional and national activities.

7. Evaluate your project

Consider how you will measure the success of your activities in light of the objectives and outcomes you would like to achieve. Evaluating your project will help you learn and determine which of your actions have created the most significant impact - and at what cost.

8. Innovate

Think of new and exciting ways to get your self care messages across. Being creative and different can help to engage people and make your initiative more successful.

Examples include:

• Socially distanced gardening classes
• Online comedy workshops
• Co-created videos
• COVID-19 sensitive school competitions
• Selfie-frames

CASE STUDY

In my experience, writes Debbie Brown, underlying health beliefs, peer, media pressure and prior negative experiences can have a detrimental impact on self care. So to engage with patients, we need to build trust. Maintaining good relationships with patients has been particularly important during Covid-19 and in the post-recovery, new normal. Primary care is often the first contact for advice and guidance. Moving to virtual services, learning new skills and introducing new ways of working, such as video, telephone and e-consultations, have been a priority in primary care – and had to be implemented at speed using available technology. Whether we use face-to-face or virtual consultations, we need to continue to deliver high-quality care in innovative ways.

A 22-year-old woman who had contacted the practice a few weeks earlier with minor illness symptoms contacted the practice again seeking advice. At the beginning of the telephone consultation, I confirmed she was indeed the correct patient. After introducing myself, I checked that she was okay to talk now. This was the first point of engaging her in conversation.

She thanked me for asking, because when she was called previously, the clinician had started to ask her what the problem was without checking if she was okay to talk. As she was on the bus, she did not feel able to fully explain her symptoms, which included repeated vaginal discharge. At her initial consultation, the clinician prescribed a topical anti- fungal treatment. This had not been effective, hence the second call.

Clarifying her symptoms, the likely diagnosis was bacterial vaginosis (BV). Again giving her time to tell her story, she told me that her mother had advised her to douche with an antiseptic solution (Dettol) as this would 'kill all germs and stop that smell'. It was imperative that I did not make any judgmental remarks but instead asked her if she had heard of Bacteria Vaginous (BV), which she hadn't. I explained the causes of BV and management options in a clear, jargon-free way and, after checking that she has access to the Internet, signposted the appropriate page on the NHS website for further information that she could read at a convenient time. We discussed the importance of self care to avoid and manage further episodes. She said she would get her mum to read the information as well. At the end of the telephone consultation, a happy empowered patient taking control herself and sharing information with her mum.

Giving patients information in a format that is right for them will help them to make informed healthier lifestyle choices and to be able to self care. However, we must remember to personalise each consultation. Not all patients have access to the Internet, or have smartphones for NHS Apps. Not all patients will have English as their first language, and some may not be able to read and or write. We have to ensure that all patients have access to the right information in the right format. Self care week is an ideal opportunity to get our communities to decide how they want to take the messages forward. We must remember our communities are our biggest asset.

PROMOTE SELF CARE AND YOUR PRACTICE

Self Care Week 2020 allows you to engage with your patients in new and different ways to help them look after their health. By entering for the 2020 Self Care Week award, you will also get a chance to showcase your activities to others.

For further information and resources visit http://www.selfcareforum.org/events/selfcare-week/ and why not subscribe to the Self Care Forum's newsletter here https://bit.ly/3haIaWB to be updated on all things self care.

REFERENCES

1. World Health Organization. What do we mean by self care? 2020. https://www.who.int/reproductivehealth/self-care-interventions/definitions/en

2. Self Care Forum. What do we mean by self care and why is it good for people? 2020. http://www.selfcareforum.org/about-us-what-do-we-mean-by-self-care-and-why-is-it-good-for-people/

3. Royal College of Nursing. Self care; 2020. https://www.rcn.org.uk/clinical-topics/public-health/self-care