Self-Care

Question 1

Define Self-Care

Answer 1

What people do for themselves to establish and maintain health, prevent and deal with illness.

Question 2

What can the NHS do for self-care?

Answer 2

NHS cannot do self care to people, but can create an environment where people feel supported to self care.

Question 3

Why do we need to encourage self-care?

Answer 3

• Over 15 mill people with longer term health needs + growing
• Saves a lot of money and resources
• Has been a huge increase in numbers of items dispensed e.g. antidepressants and drugs used for diabetes

Question 4

What are the benefits of self-care to key stakeholders (e.g. patients + HCPs)?

Answer 4

• Experts in their own condition, taking control means their care is catered for them
• Have better lives when they are supported for self-care

Question 5

What are the advantages of self-care?

Answer 5

• Experience better health + wellbeing
• Reduce the perceived severity of their symptoms
• Improve medicines adherence
• Prevent unnecessary hospital admissions
• Remain in their own home
• Greater confidence
• Better mental health

Question 6

What is the overarching theme of self-care?

Answer 6

When people feel supported to look after their health they are empowered to understand their condition to be in control of how they feel and what they do, making them feel a better sense of wellbeing.

Question 7

What are the benefits of self-care to the NHS?

Answer 7

• Visits to GPs could decrease by up to 40%
• Visits to outpatient clinics could decrease by up to 17%
• Visits to A&E could decrease by 50%
• Overall drugs expenses would decrease

Question 8

What factors would make a patient choose self-care?

Answer 8

• History + personal experiences
• Existing knowledge/values and beliefs/cultural background
• Literacy + cognitive ability
• Confidence, self-esteem
• Perceived control
• Availability of personalised choice
• Availability of information + the form it is presented in

Question 9

Who are the people that fall into the ‘self-treaters’ category?

Answer 9

• Women with young children = less time for themselves, more focused on health of other family
• Women (60-80%)
• Full time employment = less time available to make appointments during working hours
• Elderly = prescription service, reduces need to see doctors and increases interaction with pharmacy

Question 10

Why do some people prefer to ask their Pharmacist?

Answer 10

• Don’t want to waste GP time
• Alternative for minor ailments
• Convenience
• Dissatisfaction with GP service + treatment
• More info.
• Approachability
• Referral
• Cost of medicine = may be cheaper OTC

Question 11

Why do some people still prefer to ask their GP?

Answer 11

• Pharmacists should not and do not diagnose
• Medical history is with GP (but pharmacists can access summary care records with permission)
• Prior experience of condition + treatment
• Lack of privacy?

Question 12

What is the role of the Pharmacist in self-care?

Answer 12

The link between patients and public initiatives.
- Provide advice on the management of their condition.
- Advise ‘self-treaters’
Considered an essential service to support self-care in the Pharmacy contract.

Question 13

What are the GENERAL services for self-care as stated in the Pharmacy contract?

Answer 13

• Provide advice for people requesting help with the treatment of minor illnesses + long-term conditions
• Advise on the appropriate use of the wide range of non-prescription medicines
• Make healthy lifestyle interventions
• Signpost patients to other H+S care providers

Question 14

What are the LOCAL services for self-care as stated in the Pharmacy contract?

Answer 14

'Locally commissioned community pharmacy services', contracted via a number of diff routes + commissioners.
E.g.
- Alcohol Screening + brief intervention
- Needle + syringe exchange
- Stop smoking
- Medication Review
- EHC
- Chlamydia Screening + Treatment
- NHS Health Check

Question 15

What are the ENHANCED services for self-care as stated in the Pharmacy contract?

Answer 15

• Flu Vaccines
• MUR + Prescription intervention
• The Appliance User Review
• The Stoma Appliance Customisation Service
• NMS
• The NUMSAS (NHS urgent medicine supply advanced service) - pilot that is being trialled

Question 16

What is the Experts Patients Programme - ‘Self-management UK’?

Answer 16

A charity that provides self-management support for people long-term health conditions.
- Pharmacists can signpost to this

Question 17

What is Self-Managment UK’s aim?

Answer 17

Learning + practicing skills which enable individuals to manage their health condition on a day-to-day basis.

Question 18

Define self-medication.

Answer 18

The selection and use of medicines by individuals to treat self recognised illnesses or symptoms e.g. common cold.

Question 19

Why do people use self-medication?

Answer 19

• Maintain health and prevent illness
• Treatment of condition
• Treatment in addition to professionally prescribed medication

Question 20

What are the influences on self-medication?

Answer 20

• Lowering of sickness absence (e.g. avoid taking days off work)
• Increase POM to P (Pharmacy only)
• Increase medication availability
• Advertising and the internet
• Financial Resources (more available to spend on medicines)
• Communication (e.g. family member recommendations)
• Alternative treatments (15% inc. in last 5 years)

Question 21

What is the pharmacists role in self-medication?

Answer 21

• Learning minor ailments
• What medicines to recommend OTC
• Where to signpost when red flag symptoms arise