A survey of lay and professional interest in self-care

This article describes a survey of the extent of interest among medical professionals and representatives and members of patient organizations in expanding the use of self-care by people with chronic complaints. Patient organizations are essentially ;interest' groups, generally centred around a particular handicap or disease. From interviews with representatives from 52 patient organizations and with a random sample of 20 general practitioners, 21 specialists, 20 community nurses and 20 members of patient organizations, considerable interest was found in extending the practice of self-care. There was, however, some uncertainty about how to do this effectively. This study is part of a wider programme of research on the area between conventional health care and self-care.