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Take {self} care
A multidimensional approach to health
BY STACY FISHER-GUNN
SELF;CARE IS impor-
tant. Several coun-
tries, including New
Zealand, Australia and
the UK, have already
taken notice of the
potential for self-care
to reduce the growing
cost of health care, and have begun to
weave elements of this approach into
their national health strategies. A June
;;;; report in the French magazine
Actualités Pharmaceutiques estimated
that self-care could prevent “about ;; per-
cent of the cases of heart disease, stroke
and Type ; diabetes, and more than ;;
percent of cancers.”
But what is self-care, exactly? A com-
monly referenced de;nition of self-care
was developed in ;;;; by the World Health
Organization (WHO;
who.int): “Self-care
in health refers to the activities individu-
als, families and communities undertake
with the intention of enhancing health,
preventing disease, limiting illness, and
restoring health. They are undertaken by
laypeople on their own behalf, either sepa-
rately or in participative collaboration
with professionals.”
Self-care is multidimensional. It in-
volves how we eat, move, rest, express our-
selves, allocate our resources, think, con-
tribute to the world, connect with others
and even how we harmonize with nature.
Not surprisingly, many of these elements
overlap, which means that our return on
investment (in terms of time, energy and
finances) can be significantly greater
when our choices support more than one
of these dimensions.
One report from the American Institute for Preventive Medicine (healthylife.
com) estimated that ;; percent of physician visits and ;; percent of emergency
room visits were unnecessary. The WHO
has also estimated that if the major risk
factors for chronic disease were eliminated, at least ;; percent of all heart disease, stroke and Type ; diabetes would be
prevented, and ;; percent of cancer cases
would be prevented.
But while the concept of individual
health ownership sounds great in theory,
it can be a challenge to implement on a
practical level. Keeping up with house-
hold chores, putting dinner on the table
and getting the kids bathed and into bed
are just a few of the cyclical demands that
make “me time” scarce.
That’s yet another reason it may be
time to rethink the concept of self-care.
It’s not an all-or-nothing approach—it’s
personal to each individual.
So, if you’re ready to design a self-care
plan of your own, where to begin?
Create a vivid mental picture
What does “healthy” mean for you
personally? What does it look like? Having
a vivid mental image of a healthy future
helps increase motivation and activation.
Create a vision board, draw a picture or
translate your vision into words to get a
clear picture of what you want your future
life to be. This will also help to serve as a
guide for making day-to-day decisions.
(Which activity will produce the results
you are aiming for: eating cookies or going
to the gym?)
Identify opportunities
Examine the various dimensions of
your life that in;uence your health, and
focus on those that would, if improved,
bring the biggest health benefits. Exercising, setting healthy boundaries, getting
enough sleep and building strong support
systems may o;er meaningful opportunities for health improvement. It’s important to ;rst focus on areas where you feel
the most con;dent and ready. This helps
build con;dence and leads to the pursuit
of more challenging goals in the future.
Make a commitment
The best way to get started is to get
started. Make a commitment to include at
least one self-care activity each week. As
time goes on, try new things and work your
way up to several activities each week.
Acknowledging that your health is
influenced by several dimensions—not
just eating and exercise—allows you to
navigate self-care in a more holistic way. It
also enables you to make slight adjustments to your day-to-day routines to take
better care of yourself.
Perhaps the first place to begin is
exploring what self-care means to you personally. C
Stacy Fisher-Gunn is a registered dietitian
nutritionist, certi;ed diabetes educator,
author and founder of
LivingUpp.com,
a self-care community.
SPECIAL SECTION
FOR YOUR HEALTH
JANUARY 2017 The Costco Connection 63
