Abstract
Recent crises have accelerated global interest in self-care interventions. This debate paper aims to raise the issue of sexual and reproductive health (SRH) self-care and invites members of the global community operating in crisis-affected settings to look at potential avenues in mainstreaming SRH self-care interventions. We start by exploring self-care interventions that could align with well-established humanitarian standards, such as the Minimum Initial Service Package (MISP) for Sexual and Reproductive Health in Crises, point to the potential of digital health support for SRH self-care in crisis-affected settings, and discuss related policy, programmatic, and research considerations. These considerations underscore the importance of self-care as part of the care continuum and within a whole-system approach. Equally critical is the need for self-care in crisis-affected settings to complement other live-saving SRH interventions—it does not eliminate the need for provider-led services in health facilities. Further research on SRH self-care interventions focusing distinctively on humanitarian and fragile settings is needed to inform context-specific policies and practice guidance.
Highlights
Sexual and reproductive health self-care Self-care for sexual and reproductive health (SRH) has equipped people, especially women and girls, with skills and knowledge passed through generations to manage menstruation, fertility, pregnancy, and childbirth for themselves and care for their newborns and children [1]
We examined the World Health Organization (WHO) publication on Packages of Interventions for Family Planning, Safe Abortion Care, Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (2010) for other self-care interventions as it offers a valuable overview of the care continuum in the life course starting at the home/community level, in addition to first-level health facilities and referral facilities [27]
This tentative list can be useful as a launchpad for a rigorous review of the literature on interventions, opportunities, and gaps related to SRH self-care in humanitarian settings
Summary
Sexual and reproductive health self-care Self-care for sexual and reproductive health (SRH) has equipped people, especially women and girls, with skills and knowledge passed through generations to manage menstruation, fertility, pregnancy, and childbirth for themselves and care for their newborns and children [1]. These interventions stem from the MISP and the more comprehensive Inter-Agency Field Manual on Reproductive Health in Humanitarian Settings (2018), which was reviewed by WHO prior to publication [29]. We examined the WHO publication on Packages of Interventions for Family Planning, Safe Abortion Care, Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (2010) for other self-care interventions as it offers a valuable overview of the care continuum in the life course starting at the home/community level, in addition to first-level health facilities and referral facilities [27] This tentative list can be useful as a launchpad for a rigorous review of the literature on interventions, opportunities, and gaps related to SRH self-care in humanitarian settings (a scoping review started in December 2020 [30]). Advancing the role of self-care in the MISP requires a
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