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What is Primary Self Care?

Primary self care (PSC) exists at the intersection of primary health care and self-care. With an emphasis on self-management, self-testing, and self-awareness, PSC enables individuals to understand and optimize their health status through self-care interventions.

Why Primary Self Care?

According to The World Health Organization, there will be a shortage of 18 million physicians by 2030. Primary self care has the potential to fill this gap and reduce the burden on healthcare systems through better screening and prevention of diseases, all while providing more education on self-management of conditions. PSC empowers individuals to understand their health data and offers ways to effectively act on it.

What is a Primary Self Care algorithm?

Primary self care algorithms are decision support tools for individuals to better understand their health and the steps needed to optimize their health status. PSC algorithms include clinical decision support (CDS) tools, patient decision aids, health assessments, and screening and testing services.

Why does the PSC Algorithms Project matter?

Despite being at the core of self care interventions, primary self care has been inconsistently defined. In light of the growing number of at-home healthcare technologies and services, there is a "pressing need for a clearer conceptualization of self care" as well as what self-care is not1.