A second paper with results from our Living Self-Care Survey Study – joint research by the Self-Care Forum and Imperial College London’s SCARU – has been published in BMJ Open.
The paper asks “What are the demographic predictors and barriers to self-care engagement in the UK?”
Its key takeaway is: if self-care is to support a sustainable health and care system, the UK must invest in targeted, culturally competent, accessible self-care support – strengthening health literacy, expanding pharmacy-led guidance and improving access to trustworthy digital resources.
The findings show that while self-care is widespread, it is not equally accessible. Structural barriers – especially financial pressures (53%) and lack of time (47%) – prevent many people from staying healthy or managing common conditions effectively. Pharmacists remain dramatically underused, with only 1.3% of people consulting them for common symptoms, and engagement with digital health information is strikingly low, with fewer than 10% seeking online guidance during symptom episodes.
The UK-wide survey of 3,255 adults found that most people self manage everyday symptoms, usually with OTC medicines or by waiting for symptoms to resolve, while GP consultations (2.1%) and pharmacist use remain minimal. But confidence and access vary sharply. Older adults report the highest self-care confidence, while men, Asian British respondents and people living with disabilities or long term conditions consistently report lower confidence and lower information seeking.
