Three much-cited definitions of self-care were produced by the World Health Organisation in 1983, 1998 and 2009.. According to the WHO 1998 definition, self-care is what people do for themselves to establish and maintain health and to prevent and deal with illness. A broad concept includes hygiene (general and personal), nutrition (type and quality of food eaten), lifestyle (sporting activities, leisure etc), environmental factors ( living conditions, social habits, etc.), and socio-economic factors. A discussion of the different definitions of self-care has been published. Self- care in health can be defined, but should it also be measured? The range of definitions of self-care, together with the broad and disparate activities that are part of self-care, can lead to definitions of this sort becoming unwieldy for practical purposes. A description of all the elements positioned from the individual's point of view is what is needed for practical implementation of self-care. ISF suggests that a framework for self-care can be visualised and organised around seven pillars.
