This week is National Self-Care Week (17-23 November) – and it’s all about helping you feel confident to look after your own health and the health of important people in your life.
Dr Anita Pereira is a local GP and System Clinical Lead for Prevention, Personalisation and Population Health Management. In this blog she shares advice about what self-care is, local services and wellbeing tools you can use, and how you can make good choices for your health, not just this week but every day.
What is self-care?
Self-care means taking care of your mind and body. This could include:
- eating a healthy, balanced diet
- getting enough sleep
- keeping active
- speaking to someone if you’re stressed or worried
- taking medicine as directed or prescribed.
A snapshot of the communities in mid and south Essex
Lots of people live across mid and south Essex – including Essex, Thurrock and Southend-on-Sea. The 2021 census shows there’s nearly two million of us, and that number is still growing. More people are living for longer, but it also means more people need help from doctors and hospitals.
Some have long-term health problems and others need mental health support, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic. There are also groups and communities who don’t get the same level of care or help that they need. These differences are called health inequalities and can be caused by unfair and avoidable differences due to where someone lives, how much money they have, their job or education, or background or culture.
Giving you the tools to feel confident about looking after your own mind and body can help you live a healthier life and reduce how often you need to see a doctor or go to hospital.
What can you do to keep healthy?
- for minor illnesses such as coughs and colds, make sure you have medicines at home to help ease symptoms, rest and drink plenty of water
- use your local pharmacy – pharmacists can offer advice and treatment for different conditions, including minor illnesses and ailments. They can also offer flu vaccinations, free blood pressure checks if you’re over 40 years old, and other health advice
- if you’re struggling with your mental health, use support such as the Trust Links Wellbeing App, Healthy Mind Hubs and NHS Talking Therapies
- use free local community services to help you improve your health including staying active, managing your weight and stopping smoking
- refer yourself to support, such as physiotherapy, pregnancy and maternity, and mobility services without needing to visit a doctor.
There is more information about how to get the right care and support on our website.
Our Winter Health Hub can also help you stay well in winter. There’s information on:
- winter vaccinations including flu and COVID-19
- spotting and managing common winter illnesses in children
- how to stay well if you have a long-term respiratory condition such as asthma.
Coughs – looking after yourself
During winter, many people see their GP for coughs and colds that don’t need an appointment. A cough can help clear germs from your chest and can last up to three weeks.
Find out how to treat a cough yourself and when you may need to see a GPCoughs, colds or viruses in children
If your child is feeding, drinking, eating and breathing normally and there’s no wheezing, a cough is not usually anything to worry about.
- A cough helps clear germs from your chest.
- Green mucus (snot) or a noisy chest does not mean that your child has an infection needing antibiotics.
- Antibiotics don’t help coughs.
- A cough can last up to three weeks.
Children who have a cough will need to see a doctor if:
- they are under three months old and have a fever above 38°C
- they are three to six months old and have a fever above 39°C
- they are taking in less than half of normal feeds
- their immune system is weak (for example, they take medicines that lower immunity)
- they have a lung problem like asthma and it’s getting worse
- they have difficulty breathing – faster breathing or their tummy sucking under their ribs
- noisy breathing when they breathe in (wheezing or grunting)
- you think they have whooping cough
- they seem very unwell.