Self Care Week: time for a winter tune-up?

Self Care Week is fast approaching. This year’s theme is Self Care for Life – Be healthy this winter. For people living with long-term conditions, self-care is a critical part of managing their health day in, day out.

More than 15 million people in England live with at least one long-term condition, and by 2018 nearly three million people will have three or more long-term conditions¹. Self-management training and support are the keys to empower people to take control of their health condition and improve their quality of life.

Renata Drinkwater, chief executive for self management uk, said: “Self Care Week is a great opportunity to empower patients with ongoing health problems to find out how they, and their family members, can help look after themselves better and gain greater understanding of how they can better manage their health.”

She added: “Although this year’s theme is about keeping healthy during the winter, people with long-term conditions need to think about self-care as an every-day tool to manage their health and improve their quality of life. Self-management training helps people to do just that. Sadly, too many people with long-term conditions are not being offered the self-management they need and deserve. We are working hard to raise awareness of the positive impact self-management can have.”

self management uk is a charity with over 12 years’ experience of self-management. It offers a range of training courses nationwide, which provide participants with the skills and confidence to better manage their condition on a daily basis.

Self-management courses help people to:

• Develop skills and techniques to cope with daily challenges
• Feel confident, balanced and more in control of their life
• Manage their condition and treatment together with health professionals
• Be realistic about the impact of their condition on themselves and their family
• Use their new skills and knowledge to improve their experience of living with their condition
• Meet new people who understand what it’s like to live with a long-term condition

Self-management training can have a transformative impact on people’s lives:

“I am more mobile, have more confidence and feel as healthy as I was years ago. If it had not been for this course I would still be sitting in that big chair knowing nothing about COPD.”

“I’m not an invalid anymore I have a condition and I have found a way to manage it and I’m pleased with myself, chuffed actually.”

“The course makes people more aware of how their symptoms/condition affects their day-to-day health and wellbeing. It’s interesting to see how many people, who are managing different conditions, have similar symptoms. If you have more control over your condition, you have more choice. You can’t let your condition run your life.”

ENDS.

Notes to Editors:

1. Local case studies and interviews available on request, please email [email protected]
2. self management uk is a charitable organisation, and the leading provider of self- management education, training and support in England. We have over 12 years’ experience working with patients, carers, healthcare professionals, clinicians and commissioners. We work with patients and carers to help them manage the day-to-day impact of living with a long-term condition, or caring for those with long-term conditions. We collaborate with commissioners and clinicians to improve outcomes for patients with any long-term health conditions, including diabetes, arthritis, and COPD.
3. Self Care Week is a yearly campaign to raise awareness about the benefits of self-care and what people can do to take care of their own health at home. The point of the campaign is to promote and encourage more self-care across communities, families and generations.