ABSTRACT
Medical researchers had almost entirely ignored the potential resource represented by the large pool of unsung paramedical workers-health consumers themselves. A cover story in Medical World News called self-care “medicine’s fastest-rolling new bandwagon”. More than six hundred self-care books have been published. The self-care movement is suggesting that laypeople be encouraged to develop skills and knowledge for a wide variety of illness and wellness situations. For self-care advocates, the problem is that most laypeople know far too little about evaluating and improving their health without waiting for serious symptoms to occur, and coping with illness-both through self-care and by making appropriate use of health care facilities-when illness does occur. Holistic health proposes that our health care system needs a new map. Self-care suggests that the wrong person has been holding the map. The clinician-client illness consultation is an excellent opportunity for the transfer of self-care information.
