Overview

A global shortage of an estimated 18 million health workers is anticipated by 2030, a record 130 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance, and there is the global threat of pandemics such as COVID-19. At least 400 million people worldwide lack access to the most essential health services, and every year 100 million people are plunged into poverty because they have to pay for healthcare out of their own pockets. There is, therefore, an urgent need to find innovative strategies that go beyond the conventional health-sector response. These interventions are also relevant for all three areas of the Thirteenth General Programme of Work of the World Health Organization.

WHO recommends self-care interventions for every country and economic setting as critical components on the path to reaching universal health coverage (UHC), promoting health, keeping the world safe and serving the vulnerable.

Contents

• Foreword
• Preface
• Acknowledgements
• Acronyms and Abbreviations
• Executive Summary
• 1. Introduction
  • 1.1. Background
  • 1.2. Objectives
  • 1.3. Living Guideline Approach
  • 1.4. Definition of Self-Care and Self-Care Interventions
  • 1.5. Scope
  • 1.6. Target Audience
  • 1.7. Values and Preferences
  • 1.8. Guideline Development and Compilation Process
  • References for Chapter 1
• 2. Essential strategies for creating and maintaining an enabling environment for self-care
  • 2.1. Background
  • 2.2. People-Centred Approach for Health and Well-Being
  • 2.3. Key Principles
  • 2.4. Safe and Supportive Enabling Environment
  • 2.5. Characteristics of the Enabling Environment
  • 2.6. Places of Access to Self-Care Interventions
  • 2.7. Accountability
  • References for Chapter 2
• 3. Recommendations and key considerations
  • 3.1. Improving Antenatal, Intrapartum and Postnatal Care
  • 3.2. Providing High-Quality Services for Family Planning, Including Infertility Services
  • 3.3. Eliminating Unsafe Abortion
  • 3.4. Combating Sexually Transmitted Infections (Including HIV), Reproductive Tract Infections, Cervical Cancer and Other Gynaecological Morbidities
  • 3.5. Promoting Sexual Health
  • 3.6. Noncommunicable Diseases, Including Cardiovascular Diseases and Diabetes
  • References for Chapter 3
• 4. Implementation and programmatic considerations for self-care interventions
  • 4.1. Background
  • 4.2. Human Rights, Gender Equality and Equity Considerations
  • 4.3. Financing and Economic Considerations
  • 4.4. Training Needs of Health Workers
  • 4.5. Population-Specific Implementation Considerations
  • 4.6. Digital Health Interventions
  • 4.7. Environmental Considerations
  • References for Chapter 4
• 5. Developing the research agenda for self-care interventions
  • 5.1. Research on Self-Care and Self-Care Interventions Contributing to the World Health Organization’s Triple-Billion Goals
  • 5.2. Towards an Appropriate Approach to Research on Self-Care Interventions
  • 5.3. Specific Research Considerations to Strengthen the Evidence Base
  • 5.4. Centring Human Rights and Equity in Self-Care Interventions
  • 5.5. Ensuring the Meaningful Engagement of Communities in Research
  • 5.6. Knowledge Translation for Self-Care Interventions
  • References for Chapter 5
• 6. Dissemination, applicability and updating of the guideline and recommendations
  • 6.1. Dissemination
  • 6.2. Applicability
  • 6.3. Updating the Guideline
  • References for Chapter 6
• ANNEX 1. External Experts and Who Staff Involved in the Preparation of this Guideline
• ANNEX 2. Methodology: Guideline Development Process
• ANNEX 3. Scoping Review: Who Self-Care Definitions
• ANNEX 4. Glossary
• ANNEX 5. Summary of Declarations of Interest and the Management of Conflicts of Interest
• ANNEX 6. Priority Questions and Outcomes
• ANNEX 7. Published Reviews
• ANNEX 8. Guideline Development Group Judgements on New Recommendations
• Web Annex A. Global values and preferences survey report
  • 1. About this document
  • 2. Sociodemographic characteristics, self-efficacy, autonomy, and sources of information relating to self-care interventions
  • 3. Awareness and experience of, and values and preferences relating to self-care interventions for SRHR: quantitative findings
  • 4. Values and preferences relating to self-care interventions for SRHR: qualitative findings
  • 5. Health-care engagement and self-care interventions for SRHR
  • 6. Impacts of COVID-19 on respondents’ use of self-care interventions and access to sexual and reproductive health services
• Web Annex B. GRADE tables

Suggested citation:

WHO guideline on self-care interventions for health and well-being, 2022 revision. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2022. Licence: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO.

General disclaimers. The designations employed and the presentation of the material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of WHO concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. Dotted and dashed lines on maps represent approximate border lines for which there may not yet be full agreement.

The mention of specific companies or of certain manufacturers’ products does not imply that they are endorsed or recommended by WHO in preference to others of a similar nature that are not mentioned. Errors and omissions excepted, the names of proprietary products are distinguished by initial capital letters.

All reasonable precautions have been taken by WHO to verify the information contained in this publication. However, the published material is being distributed without warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied. The responsibility for the interpretation and use of the material lies with the reader. In no event shall WHO be liable for damages arising from its use.