International Self-Care Day:
A Reminder for Providers & Caregivers

By Kristen Scott, BSN, RN, Senior Manager of Customer Education at Lucet

July 24 marked International Self-Care Day, which emphasizes self-care as the foundation for wellness. As providers, we dedicate our lives to the care of others, often sacrificing our own free time and headspace to do it.

Do you take time for yourself? Are you feeling stressed, exhausted, run-down? As a nurse, wife and mother of two young girls, self-care is something that isn’t regularly on the top of my list! During the summer, schedules are busier and life can be more hectic. But there’s never a bad time to start prioritizing you. Self-care is so much more than taking “me” time or having a spa day—it can be scheduling an annual medical appointment or eating a nutritious diet. It encompasses all actions put toward your health and well-being. 

The World Health Organization (WHO) defines self-care as “the ability of individuals, families and communities to promote health, prevent disease, maintain health, and to cope with illness and disability with or without the support of a healthcare provider.”

“As a nurse, wife and mother of two young girls, self-care is something that isn’t regularly on the top of my list! But there’s never a bad time to start prioritizing you.”

Kristen Scott, BSN, RN – Senior Manager of Customer Education at Lucet

The WHO recognizes self-care as a crucial aspect of health maintenance. It is not an indulgence.

Self-care is not the same for everyone and looks very different from person to person.  Look at your daily activities and determine where you feel deprived in your life. What do you need to do more of or less of? What makes you feel good? What stresses you? Make time to determine how to incorporate more of the good and less of the bad. 

In fact, making a self-care plan can be exciting and invigorating! If you feel overwhelmed, find a friend to do activities with or talk about ways to improve your daily life.

Here are some ideas inspired by International Self-Care Day that you can start doing any day and every day:

• Find a quiet place and read a book
• Make a list of ways you can practice self-care for a manageable amount of time, like one month or the rest of the year
• Go for a walk, exercise or try a nature hike
• Increase your water intake for the each day for a week
• Eat a healthy and balanced diet
• Sleep 6–8 hours
• Decrease screen time
• Meditate
• Designate time to pamper yourself
• Strengthen meaningful relationships

Here are more resources for learn how to incorporate self-care into your daily life:

• Psych Central
• World Health Organization
• Transformation Network
• National Today

Kristen Scott, BSN, RN, is the senior manager of customer education at Lucet, The Behavioral Health Optimization Company.