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Skills for Health and Skills for Care have jointly developed common core principles to support self care. Key stakeholders (including patients and carers) were involved in the development of these seven principles (see Box 1), which are based on best practice. They aim to support service reform while promoting choice, control, independence, and participation of service users. The principles apply to all individuals, not just those with long-term or complex conditions.

The Department of Health (DH) has published a guide to support the implementation of these principles.1 This guide describes the principles in terms of competence, the expected behaviours and supporting knowledge, and puts them into context. The importance of the individuals/carers and healthcare professionals working in partnership to achieve the best possible outcomes is highlighted. The implementation guide also contains key messages for commissioners, and will support them with the delivery of personalised services that are focused on quality, health and well-being outcomes, and not just processes. Practice-based commissioning of services is therefore an ideal way of helping to embed these common core principles into daily practice.

Box 1: The common core principles1
1)	Ensure individuals are able to make informed choices to manage their self-care needs.
2)	Communicate effectively to enable individuals to assess their needs, and develop and gain confidence to self care.
3)	Support and enable individuals to access appropriate information to manage their self-care needs.
4)	Support and enable individuals to develop skills in self care.
5)	Support and enable individuals to use technology to support self care.
6)	Advise individuals how to access support networks and participate in the planning, development and evaluation of services.
7)	Support and enable risk management and risk taking to maximise independence and choice.
	Reproduced with permission of Skills for Health

1. Skills for Care, Skills for Health. Common core principles to support self care: a guide to support implementation. 2008. www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_084505 G

Julia Morris, Editor
julia.morris@mgp.ltd.uk