If there just aren't enough doctors and other health care professionals to go around, according to new recommendations from the World Health Organization, maybe it's time to look in the mirror.

Marginalized populations, as well as “people who are negatively affected by gender, political, cultural and power dynamics,” could use self-care as a complementary approach to health care. By WHO estimates, some 400 million people worldwide lack access to basic health services, and by 2030 the world will be short of health care workers by about 18 million. Given those challenges, self-care looks to be positioned for growth.

So what exactly is self-care? It's basically what people have been doing for generations in the absence of doctors and nurses: “the ability of individuals, families and communities to promote health, prevent disease, maintain health, and cope with illness and disability with or without the support of a health-care provider.”

And while its scope is far-ranging—health promotion; disease prevention and control; self-medication; providing care to dependent persons; seeking hospital/specialist/primary care if necessary; and rehabilitation, including palliative care—the purpose of educating people as to its existence and practice is to try to fill the breach between those who have access to treatment and those who do not.

In an effort to bring the practice of self-care to a broader audience, WHO has launched its first guideline on self-care interventions for health; the first volume focuses on sexual and reproductive health and rights. It's aimed at all stakeholders, from individuals and communities in general to health professionals and civil society, to “empower individuals, families and communities to optimize their health as advocates for policies that promote and protect health and well-being, as co-developers of health and social services and as self-carers and caregivers.”

WHO's guidelines are designed to explore the evidence for efficacy of self-care in various interventions that “can be done outside the conventional health sector,” and while it points out that such measures are no substitute for “high-quality health services” or “a shortcut to achieving universal health coverage,” they are designed to broaden the view of what people can do for themselves or for their communities in providing health assistance when conventional services are not available.

Additional self-care volumes are planned, and WHO also intends to establish a community of practice for self-care.

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Self-care could expand access to health services, says WHO

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