Self Care is The Best Form of Care

As we are entering the end of the year, most of us are already in the peak season of things or are slowly feeling the weight of workload piling; be it to wrap things up or to prepare for the new year. That said, incorporating self care measures that covers all aspects of your wellbeing is of utmost importance as it keeps us up on our feet and prevents us from experiencing burn out from all the stress and pressure. 

While there are copious of information out there providing ways on how one can practice self care, its sufficient to just be aware of the 7 pillars of self-care developed by the International Self Care Foundation (ISF) as discussed below:

1. Knowledge & Health Literacy
   
   Knowledge, as we all know, is a powerful thing as it gives us the ability to make informed decisions to improve the quality of our lives. By knowing and understanding how our body works, our needs and how our health is affected by any health conditions or external factors, we will start taking more responsibility towards our health and play an active role in optimizing our health status.
   
   According to the World Health Organization (WHO), health literacy is defined as “The cognitive and social skills that determine the motivation and ability of individuals to gain access to, understand and use information in ways to promote and maintain good health.” It allows us to interpret health information provided by healthcare professionals better such as taking our medications accordingly and to be more aware of the risks if we don’t do so, engaging in healthy lifestyles as well as being able to identify when an information is poor or misleading.
   
   Together, health knowledge and literacy empowers us to be more accountable for the wellbeing of our health. Through the knowledge and understanding of our health, we can critically assess information to make a sound decision in enhancing our lifestyle and behaviors, understand the risk factors and the appropriate indication of medical check ups/tests and treatments.
   

2. Mental Wellbeing, Self-Awareness & Agency
   
   Taking some time out for yourself and engaging in activities that bring you joy in your daily/weekly routine - such as meditation, exercise, watching a movie, treating yourself to a massage, jogging in the park, staying connected with friends and family etc goes a long way in preserving your mental health and helps most of us cope with the stresses of life. Subsequently, this would also help boost our productivity and lead us to live a more meaningful life.
   
   Self awareness on the other hand involves using the knowledge you have about your health and applying it to your own health situation. In other words, health literacy combined with the internalization of knowledge. For instance, if you’ve been recently diagnosed with diabetes and you know reducing your sugar intake accompanied with regular exercises can help with that, self awareness would motivate you to do the following to ensure your diabetes doesn’t go from bad to worse and eventually normalize your blood sugar level.
   
   Meanwhile, agency is the ability and the intention to act according to your knowledge and self-awareness for the betterment of your health.
   
   

3. Physical Activity
   As we all already know, physical activities even as simple as walking, jogging, cycling, dancing significantly improves health, fitness and mood. It is also often the first step in treatment by most healthcare professionals in order to tackle some of the common diseases such as diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular diseases. Besides, by being physically active, we’re able to improve our posture and balance, manage our pain and enhance bone health; all of which are certainly beneficial as we age.
   

4. Healthy Eating
   As the saying goes “you are what you eat.” Maintaining a healthy diet has been repeatedly shown to have preventative benefits, reducing the risk of many non-communicable diseases and helping us to be in shape. Dietary changes are also often used in the treatment of established illnesses, in a similar way to physical activity.
   
   This is because by being overweight or obese, there’ll be increased weight on your joints, resulting in pain and joint damage in the long run, especially on weight–bearing joints such as hips, knees, ankles and feet. The excessive weight may also  contribute to low but persistent levels of inflammation across your entire body which may lead to severe consequences in the long run. Moreover, being overweight or obese is known to be the most common modifiable risk factors to many diseases including diabetes, heart diseases, poor sleep, some cancer, just to name a few.
   
   Being underweight on the other hand is no better either. By lacking some essential nutrients or not getting the required calories you need in a day, your immune system will weaken and this puts you at a higher risk of getting infection or falling sick more easily. Furthermore, people who are underweight tend to feel tired and run down quicker than usual and this will affect your ability to stay productive and get through the day.
   
   Thus, by eating healthily, you’re definitely caring for your health even though it may not come off as such.
    

5. Risk Avoidance or Mitigation
   This pillar essentially means taking responsibility for our actions and avoiding or reducing any behaviors that would directly increase the risk of a disease or death. This includes behaviours such as fastening your seatbelt whether as a driver or passenger every time you’re on the road, wearing a helmet when riding a bike, drinking alcohol in moderation, quit smoking, practicing safe sex, getting your vaccinations, and protecting yourself from the sun.
   
   

6. Good Hygiene
   Hygiene refers to the practices one takes to maintain health and prevent the spread of diseases. Practicing good hygiene is a simple thing you can do to reduce the risk of getting sick or developing infections. Good hygiene habits include thorough and regular hand washing, coughing/sneezing into your elbow, sterilization of drinking water, staying home when sick to prevent spread of communicable diseases, and maintaining a clean living and working environment. When practiced consistently, these habits can help us to keep our health in check and minimize the risk of infection as much as possible.
    

7. Rational and Responsible Use of Products, Services, Diagnostics & Medicines
   Self-care products and services are generally the ‘tools’ of self–care where they support health awareness and healthy practices. These tools are:
   
   - Medications (both prescription and over-the-counter)
   - Complementary therapies (ie: massage, acupuncture)
   - Monitoring equipments (blood pressure and blood glucose monitoring devices)
   - Natural health products, traditional medicines and vitamins, minerals and supplements
   - Wellness services (e.g. exercise classes, weight loss groups) 
   - Health services (e.g. smoking cessation programs, physiotherapy, and massage therapy).
   
   However, it is important to note that these tools should be used rationally and responsibly, only when they are proven to be safe and effective.

Summary

Now that we’ve looked at the 7 pillars of self care, it's time to start taking actions and implement these habits for a healthy lifestyle and to help prevent or delay diseases. While these habits may seem common, consistency is the key to ultimate self care.

This article is written by Janelle Leong, Bpharm(Hons)(DOC2US)

References

1. The Seven Pillars of Self Care - The International Self Care Foundation. Available at: https://isfglobal.org/practise-self-care/the-seven-pillars-of-self-care/ Accessed on 16th November 2022.

2. Understanding the 7 Pillars of Self Care - Mindful Maelstorm. Available at: https://www.mindfulmaelstrom.com/health-healing-resources-blog/understanding-the-7-pillars-of-self-care. Accessed on 16th November 2022.

3. Self Care Forum 2021. Available at: https://www.selfcareforum.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/2021-Power-SelfCare.pdf. Accessed on 16th November 2022.

Written by

Janelle Leong, Bpharm(Hons)