Now Is the Time to Invest in Self-Care

There’s no denying that health has been a major topic of conversation across the world for last two years. The pandemic has placed enormous pressure on global healthcare systems, many of which were already struggling to keep up with demand before 2020.

As the pandemic has evolved, the importance of robust everyday health and immunity has emerged. A New Hope Network survey carried out in the early weeks of the pandemic showed that 77% of respondents said their personal health was more important to them than it had been in 2019. 

The pandemic also shed light on the fragility of many healthcare systems. Worldwide, healthcare costs as a percentage of national GDP are rising, according to World Bank data—and in the U.S., healthcare spending represented almost 17% of GDP in 2019. As for individuals’ focus on their own personal health, Bloomberg Intelligence Analyst Diana Rosero-Pena predicts that the increased sense of personal responsibility is here to stay. 

“The pandemic made a lot of people think about how they’re treating their bodies, which is why there’s a good tailwind for the self-care segment as we go forward,” she says.
 

Self-care—defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) as “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 healthcare provider”—empowers people to take both proactive and reactive steps to protect their own health and well-being, using everything from nasal sprays to treat an allergy to supplements that help ensure the right intake of nutrients. 

The last 30 months point to the need to consider the performance and long-term sustainability of such systems. Scaling healthier lifestyles and personal health practices into broader healthcare strategies is essential to designing more healthcare systems that are built to last.

The three leading causes of death worldwide are non-communicable diseases (NCDs): heart disease, stroke and lung disease. If more people took steps to manage their own health, like improving and supplementing their diets or making healthier lifestyle choices, the prevalence of these could decrease. Investing in self-care and preventative health solutions could help reduce the number of people suffering from NCDs and limit the number of people requiring care at the expensive end of the healthcare continuum, where doctors, hospitals and costly treatments are involved.

In late 2020, leading economies including the U.K., the U.S. and France ranked poorly in the Bloomberg Health-Efficiency Index, which tracks life expectancy and medical spending to determine which global healthcare systems have the best outcomes. 

Research by the Global Self-Care Federation found that, in one-year, self-care saves $119 billion for individuals, healthcare systems and governments. Further adoption of self-care could save an additional $60 billion annually. 

These data points indicate untapped potential how self-care is practiced in healthcare both in terms of economic value for national budgets and health outcomes for individuals.

Documenting that potential is one of the core objectives of the The Self-Care Readiness Index (SCRI). Launched in September 2021 by the Global Self-Care Federation in partnership with the World Health Organization, the SCRI found that the majority of healthcare providers globally say personal health practices are a vital tool in supporting patients. They cited improved health outcomes when patients can safely use appropriate OTC products as first-line treatments for minor ailments. In Thailand, for example, where household remedies and OTC medicines are widely used, 99% of healthcare professionals said self-care is a “core component” of their approach to patient management.