Appeal to Entrepreneurs and Philanthropists
Take over a successful international charity
Leadership in the global wellness revolution
The International Self-Care Foundation (ISF) is a successful UK-registered charity focused uniquely on the strategic worldwide promotion and development of self-care and healthy lifestyles. The opportunity and need for individuals to take better care of themselves through self-care is huge. ISF invites expressions of interest from interested parties to take over and lead the charity into the future.
Self-care is a practical, person-centred set of activities that we should all be doing to maintain our health, wellness and wellbeing. Through self-care people can be healthier and remain so into old age, managing minor ailments themselves. They can also better manage, delay or even prevent the appearance of lifestyle diseases such as heart attacks, strokes, diabetes and many cancers.
Further, self-care is a potential win-win opportunity for all stakeholders in health. It can be a win for governments through healthier, more productive citizens and reduced pressure on health and social system services and budgets. It can be a win for healthcare professionals – doctors and nurses will have more time to focus on keeping people well and for more serious cases, and pharmacists will be able to offer a wider range of health and wellness services. It can be a win for the commercial sector – better self-care will expand the rational use of products and services, and offer opportunities for the development of new products and services.
However, there are many personal, environmental and systemic barriers to self-care, and it can be very difficult for people to change unhealthy behaviours and sustain good self-care practices.
Being substantially outside the remit of current health and social systems, self-care has not in the past received the attention or support that is needed. Firstly, all stakeholders would benefit from a common platform for the strategic global development and promotion of self-care, based on a clear articulation of its nature, benefits and opportunities. Secondly, self-care as an academic subject has been neglected. A major opportunity exists to support and encourage R&D in self-care, including implementation and best practices. A further opportunity exists in facilitating the sharing of self-care R&D, highlighting research currently underway in separate ‘silos’ worldwide.
In short, self-care needs an independent, neutral, global, champion. The International Self-Care Foundation was therefore created as a charity in 2011 to champion self-care around the world. ISF is unique in the health space by virtue of its charitable status, international orientation, and specific focus on self-care promotion and R&D. Today, ISF is in a unique position as a global leader and authority on self-care.
Over the last few years ISF has made the case for self-care globally and has created a range of programmes – including International Self-Care Day on July 24 each year, the ISF World Healthy City Award, and the ISF/SelfCare Journal Prize Essay Competition. ISF has also been helping to drive the development of self-care as an academic subject, working with universities around the world. ISF’s “Seven Pillars of Self-Care” provides a common foundation for all stakeholders and is proving a robust and widely used framework.
Further details on self-care and ISF are given in a Prospectus for Self-Care and for ISF, available here.
Having established ISF and demonstrated the contribution that an international charity can make, the Trustees invite expressions of interest in taking over ISF and carrying forwards the work.
Please contact ISF President David Webber ([email protected]) or view www.isfglobal.org for further information.
Thank you for your interest. With best regards
David E. Webber Ph.D
ISF President & Trustee
