Self care in the community

Solving issues in healthcare requires the entire population to be part of the solution. Despite public health messaging around minor ailment, pharmacy first, there is still a lack of knowledge of how to look after ourselves and to engage properly with our health services . I believe this is due to how these messages are delivered. We should consider engaging with other organisations/ sectors to spread healthcare messages. For eg as a minimum a resource containing information such as,

1. Trusted websites to access for healthcare advice Such as NHS, selfcare forum. 

2. Information on basic hand hygiene.

3. Pharmacy first and what minor ailments can be treated there.

4. Antibiotic messaging.

5. A list of common ailments such as earache, sore throat, cold and how long it takes to recover from them.

6. Regional advice on organisations that offer other support for eg mental health

7. Contact details for benefits. In Northern Ireland there is a make the call number that people can ring to ensure that they are receiving all the benefits they are entitled to.

8. We should use the education sector, business sector, churches etc to reach as much of the population as possible to begin embedding that knowledge. There is a pharmacy first educational scheme in Northern Ireland which is now been taught in primary schools. This has the benefit of educating parents and has received excellent feedback.  

There is a need and demand for basic health care information. We need to be more proactive in spreading messages to begin embedding self care within our communities. A lot of networks exist which are under used.