Remote communities: promoting engagement in self-care.

Abstract

Behaviour change interventions which promote engagement in self-care may be utilised as a means to increase the reach of healthcare and reduce health inequality by targeting those populations deemed harder to reach. The remote and rural community and offshore workforce in the United Kingdom may be regarded as hard to reach and accordingly, may benefit from implementation of a self-care behaviour change intervention. Such interventions may foster resilience and wellbeing within these communities, and increase quality of life. However, traditional face-to-face methods of delivery may prove challenging to implement within remote communities. Accordingly, digital means of delivery may proffer a unique opportunity to engage those that are harder to reach. In addition, digital interventions may assist in overcoming some of the barriers that are typically associated with face-to-face methods. For example, they may assist in reducing the stigma that is often associated with seeking help. Strategies such as self-monitoring, whereby an individual monitors their own health data, may prove beneficial in promoting self-care. It is advocated, in an effort to best ensure sustained behaviour change, that digital interventions are developed in accordance with theory. The use of theory enables intervention developers to match determinants of behaviour to intervention content. Such mapping is proposed to increase the effectiveness of interventions. This paper is based on an essay which was submitted to the International Self-Care Foundation and Self-Care Journal Prize Essay Competition 2015, and was awarded a runner-up prize.