
People are Canada’s greatest healthcare resource, but their potential is too often underestimated and under-valued.
Canada needs a National Self-Care Strategy now to:
- Increase Canadians’ capacity to take care of themselves
- Save time, money, and resources
- Make our publicly funded healthcare system more sustainable
Why Now?
People are Canada’s greatest healthcare resource, but their potential is too often underestimated and under-valued compared to the publicly-funded healthcare system. Canada should support self-care tools, information, products and services that help Canadians make healthy lifestyle choices, treat minor health ailments, manage — or, better yet, prevent — chronic diseases, and more
As the COVID-19 pandemic has made clearer than ever, Canadians want and need the resources, information, products and services to practice self-care as an effective, low-cost complement to investments in the publicly-funded healthcare system.
Learn more:
Canadians support self-care! Read our press release, urgently calling for the federal government to implement a National Self-Care strategy and dig into Abacus Data’s polling results.
Read our Blueprint for Development of a National Self-Care Strategy (French) and Summary (French).
On February 3, 2021, Abacus Data's Chief Executive, David Coletto hosted and moderated a digital conversation titled "Take Care, Canada: can self-care help save health care?"
David shared results from the national survey while moderating a discussion with leading public policy and health leaders about how a National Self-Care Strategy could improve health outcomes for Canadians and improve the sustainability of the publicly-funded healthcare system.
Panelists included:
- Dr. Nardine Nakhla, Clinical Lecturer at the University of Waterloo School of Pharmacy
- Judy Steinmark, Director General at the Global Self-Care Federation
- Kristine Sørensen, PhD, President of the International Health Literacy Association
- Gerry Harrington, Senior Advisor at Food, Health, & Consumer Products of Canada.
A recording of the digital conversation is available to watch.
For more information on Self-Care Day and the Seven Pillars of Self-Care, visit selfcare.ca.
Visit OnEveryShelf.ca for more resources on this issue and more of FHCP's top priorities.