Helping people look after themselves: a guide on self-care

Self care creates a feeling of control and reduces anxiety for the individual. It improves their quality of life and disease outcomes and frees up the time of health and care staff.

But there is simply not enough of it. We know from patients that they want to get more involved in care, but don't always find it easy to communicate with or understand health and care staff.

There are other barriers too. Health and care is still too focused around single conditions, when many people live with multiple conditions. There is a lack of coordination between different services and a lack of continuity for the patient.

Addressing these barriers is a major challenge. But by working with our NHS partners and the voluntary sector, councils can play a vital part in tackling them. We can educate, inform and lead. We can reconnect people with their communities and shape those communities to make self care more likely. And, as the case studies in this brochure demonstrate, councils are involved in a range of innovative work to further embed the self care agenda.