What is self care?

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Self care means looking after oneself. This TAP module focuses on the self care activities a person carries out every day to look after their basic personal needs.

Some common examples of self care activities are:

  • Washing yourself

A person with long hair uses a shower. They are reaching up to rub their scalp.

  • Going to the toilet

A man using a wheelchair pushes himself up a ramp that has a grab bar next to it. At the top of the ramp is an open door to an accessible toilet.

  • Getting dressed

A woman uses both hands to button the top of her shirt.

  • Eating and drinking

A young girl uses both hands to hold and eat an apple.

To carry out most self care activities independently, people use physical skills such as mobility, balance, strength and coordination.

A person also needs thinking skills to be able to plan and remember to do self care tasks.

When working with someone on their self care, it is helpful to understand the skills they need to carry out the different steps of the activity.

Let’s look at the steps and skills involved in two example self care activities.

Activity

1. Washing your body

A man in shorts sits on a bench and pours a jug of water over his head. A large tub of water sits next to him.

What steps are involved in washing your body?

Organise the steps into the correct order by numbering them 1 to 6.

Steps involved in washing your body:

  1. Move to the place where you will wash yourself
  2. Get undressed
  3. Stand, sit or squat in a shower, step into a bath, or lean over a bucket
  4. Hold soap and wash body parts
  5. Dry off
  6. Get dressed.

What skills are used to carry out these steps?






All of the skills above are used for some or all of the steps.

2. Getting dressed

A man sitting on a bench leans forward to put on his sandals.

Steps involved in getting dressed:

  1. Move to a private place to get dressed
  2. Choose and lay out clothes
  3. Put on clothes including doing up fasteners such as zips and buttons
  4. Put away clothes that were taken off

What skills are used to carry out these steps?






All of the skills above are used for some or all of the steps.

Eating and drinking are two other self care activities that use physical and thinking skills.

The physical skills of mobility, balance and coordination are particularly important to be able to eat and drink safely.

Physical and thinking skills allow people to:

  • Plan what they are going to eat and remember to eat at regular times
  • Move to the place where they and others eat
  • Sit upright
  • Break or cut food into bite size pieces
  • Bring food to their mouth (with or without eating utensils)
  • Chew and swallow.

A person uses a knife and fork to cut up their meal.

A young boy uses chopsticks to place food in his mouth. A plate of food sits on the table in front of him.

Going to the toilet is another self care activity that uses physical skills and thinking skills.

People need:

  • Physical skills to get to and use the toilet
  • Thinking skills to recognize and/or remember when to go to the toilet and know what to do when they get there.

A person stands to push open a door displaying female, male and accessible symbols.

People also use bladder and bowel control to avoid accidents (leaks).

Read on to find out more about bladder and bowel control.

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