Self Care for Life – Take Control 1 National Self Care Week Communications Information

Self Care for Life – Take Control1

National Self Care WeekCommunications Information


Self Care Week is an annual national awareness week that focuses on

embedding support for self care across communities, families and

generations. Each year there is a different theme for the campaign and

for 2013, our theme is:

Self care for life – Take Control

What is Self Care Week 2013?


Theme: Self care for life – Take Control

We want to inspire people to take control of their health and

ultimately take control of their life. By becoming more health

literate, we hope people will understand how to look after their

health for life, taking care of their own minor ailments, managing

more serious conditions and choosing healthy options that will

impact positively on people’s physical health as well as their mental

wellbeing and self esteem.

The aim for Self Care Week 2013


The Department of Health handed over organisation of Self Care Week

to the Self Care Forum in 2011, and for two years it was a joint

initiative. This year, NHS England will be a partner organisation.

The Self Care Forum is the leading UK organisation dedicated to

helping people help themselves by embedding self care into everyday

life so that it becomes a life long habit.

Who is involved in Self Care Week?


The Self Care Forum‘s target audience is the NHS, voluntary and

private sector organisations that are already communicating with

people and carers responsible for managing minor ailments and

long-term conditions. We see these organisations, as well as Patient

Participation Groups (PPGs) as important partners in promoting and

disseminating the messages of Self Care Week.

Who is our Target Audience?


As the organisers of Self Care Week, we hope to support you by

providing national tools, messages and encouragement to help run

local initiatives that target your own audiences under an overarching,

national Self Care Week banner. In previous years, these local

initiatives have included alcohol awareness, weight control, school

education, minor ailment and long-term condition management.

We hope this year’s theme of Self Care for Life – Take Control is broad

enough to allow you to promote self care messages to all your target

groups no matter what age or gender. We have specifically created it

so that it is totally inclusive and gives you the flexibility to add self care

messages with a physical as well as mental health focus.

Supporting you to get involved


We have devised a bank of key messages to help with your

campaign. These are mostly themed around Self care for Life – Take

Control with a physical and mental health focus.

Some messages centre around careful use of health services. It is

widely acknowledged that self care not only empowers the

individual, it also lessens demand on the NHS. Pressures on the NHS

are rising as a result of high demand and fiscal challenges that

mean now, more than ever, people have to be supported to look

after their own health, and their family’s health better. NHS Costs: GP consultation £43 / A&E Treatment £112 / District Nurse visit

£39

Self Care Week Key Messages


What are the key messages?Mind Physical / Life Your NHS

Get connected online, via mobile, with neighbours and your community

Take control, know how to look after your health and your family’s health

Use health services but don’t abuse health services

Be responsible for your own health and mental wellbeing – take control

Your health, your life, your future – stay healthy, your choice!

By looking after your health today, the NHS will be there for you tomorrow

Take control of your mind, body and soul – don’t sweat the small stuff!

A 30 minute walk a day, keeps the hospital bed at bay!

Self care for you, yours and your NHS

Be mindful of your health, self and happiness!

Do yourself a favour – choose the healthy option!

Don’t misuse your NHS – make sure it’s still around when you really need it

Take control of your health, be in control of your life

Self care is not no care Choose well and get the right care at the right time


This is a good time to raise awareness of what people can be doing

to take care of themselves better, particularly those with long-term

conditions. The time leading up to the winter months can prepare

and inform the whole population at a time when seasonal illness

tends be more prolific. The Week fits with existing national

initiatives, including the National Pharmacy Association’s ‘Ask your

Pharmacist Week’ (4-11 Nov) and the European Antibiotic Awareness

Day (18 Nov), which makes the link with self care support for colds

and flu. See slide 18 for a list of initiatives.

Why run Self Care Week Now?


The Self Care Forum will provide a generic communications toolkit,

including the national campaign tools, resources and messaging, for

local organisations to develop their own approaches to promote self

care initiatives.

The Self Care Forum’s website (www.selfcareforum.org) will act as a

portal to promote a range of freely available Self Care Week

information and resources, including web buttons, banners, posters

and public-facing leaflets with Self Care Week messages. Post-

campaign, the website will also act as a channel for local evaluation

and success measures.

What is the role of the Self Care Forum?

http://www.selfcareforum.org/


Local organisations are encouraged to use the range of national

resources freely available from the DH and Self Care Forum websites

and adapt them to fit what they are doing locally to promote support

for self care.

It is hoped that local organisations and stakeholders will proactively

look for opportunities to bring local self care activities and existing

initiatives together and promote and run them under the national

Self Care Week banner. This will enable local communities to target

their own groups and maximise their own initiatives.

What is the role of my organisation?


There are many ways you can support Self Care Week. To get a

flavour of the type of activities organisations have been involved

with previously, please visit the Self Care Week 2012 review at:

http://www.selfcareforum.org/events/self-care-week-review/

A lack of resource should not be a barrier to involvement, the next

slides gives suggestions on what you can do to start your own

campaign.

We hope that you will get involved and make Self Care Week YOUR

Self Care Week

How can I participate in SCW?

http://www.selfcareforum.org/events/self-care-week-review/


Join in - a few ideas

Limited resource

Ensure your Chief Executive is aware of

activity

Link to other organisations’ self care initiatives

Post details on internal and public-facing websites

Mention Self Care Week 2013 in presentations and

speeches

Moderate resource

Publish articles in public and staff facing newsletters

and websites

Tailor, print off and display posters in patient/staff

areas

Run awareness sessions for patients to talk to nurses

about managing their condition; involve PPGs

Create resources for local journalists

Extensive resource

Team up with local voluntary sector

specialists on awareness raising activity

Launch a self care initiative such as a cough/cold and flu

campaign aimed at the general public and those

vulnerable to these viruses and invite local media

along


A range of free resources and information is available to download

from the DH and Self Care Forum websites, including:

Web buttons

Banner

Master presentation slide

Sample article

Range of free public-facing leaflets

Go to www.selfcareforum.org

Where can I download the resources?

http://www.selfcareforum.org/


We plan to review the impact of SCW and hope you will do the same.

If you aren’t able to commission an agency to carry out research into the

campaign’s impact on patients and staff, here are other suggestions on

low cost evaluations:

Use an online survey provider such as SurveyMonkey to ask target

audiences how the campaign has impacted on the local community.

Search the internet for local campaign press coverage.

Keep track of the number of posters, leaflets, etc that have been

distributed.

Monitor take up of any services/ initiatives launched.

For online content, find out the number of page views and click through.

Please share your evaluations with us by emailing

[email protected]

Will it make a difference?

mailto:[email protected]


Here are some of the organisations that we know of who are committed to participating in the campaign:

Who is getting involved in SCW?


Organisation Self Care initiative DateNational Eczema Society National Eczema Week September 14 – 22nd Working Families National Work Life Week September 23 – 27th World Heart Federation World Heart Day September 24th Department of Health Stoptober October 1-31st

United Nations International Day of Older Persons October 1st

Harvey Ross Ball World Smile Day October 4th Backcare Backcare Awareness Week October 7 – 11th World Health Organisation World Mental Health Day October 10th National Osteoporosis Society World Osteoporosis Day October 20th

North West Strategic Health Authority Choose Well winter campaign October 29th

International Federation of Psoriasis Associations

World Psoriasis Day October 29th

Community Hygiene Concern National Bug Busting Day October 31st

Roy Castle Foundation Lung Cancer Awareness Month November 1-30thBritish Dental Health Foundation Mouth Cancer Action Month November 1-30th

Pancreatic Cancer Action Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month

November 1-30th

Movember Movember – Men’s Health Awareness Month

November 1-30th

Psoriasis Association Psoriasis Awareness Week November 1-7th

National Pharmacy Association Ask your Pharmacist Week November 4 -11th

International Stress Management Association National Stress Awareness Day November 6th

World Kindness Movement World Kindness Day November 13th Self Care Forum Self Care Week November 18 – 24th Allergy UK Indoor Allergy Week November 11 – 17th British Lung Foundation World COPD Awareness Day November 14th

International Diabetes Federation World Diabetes Day November 14th

Department of Health/European Centre for Disease Control and Prevention

Antibiotic Awareness Day November 18th

Alcohol Concern Alcohol Awareness Week November 19-25th

Diary dates: other self care initiatives


Self Care Week Action Plan

What will we do? When will we do it? Who will do it? Cost implication?

Determine what key messages will be used from Self Care Week

Review existing health promotion initiatives to see if these fall under self care

Relaunch existing initiatives under Self Care Week banner

Identify a key need in the local community and create new Self Care Week initiative to tackle

Post Self Care Week online button or banner on websites

Link to other organisations’ self care initiatives that meet local health needs

Include Self Care Week in presentations and speeches

Publish articles in public and staff facing newsletters

Distribute posters and leaflets

Run an awareness session

Create local media resources and tailor, e.g. how many A&E visits are for minor ailments


We very much hope you will support SCW 2013 and we would

be interested to know what you are doing so that we can

share this with others involved. Your details will be included

in one of our SCW newsletter that is circulated to like minded

people with an interest in forwarding the reach of self care.

Please send details to [email protected]

What are you doing?

mailto:[email protected]

Documents

Self Care for Life – Take Control 1 National Self Care Week Communications Information