👨‍👩‍👧‍👧Circle of Care

Social networks of personal care are the Circles of Care.

With an aging population that continues to grow and the number of people living with chronic disease increasing, health care is shifting from hospital to community and family. Family members are key to the delivery of long-term care for patients and loved ones.

Circles of Care is the space in between self-care and the medical-expert space, where people are creating their well-being strategies. In your circle of care your partner, family, friends, and neighborhood help you to maintain your daily health and well-being. These personal well-being networks are constructed from a person’s experience and contacts. These experiences heighten general awareness of health and require greater levels of support, especially in growing a social network of personal care.

Circles of Care Activators are people who can play an active role in your circle of care. These include your family, partner, friends, neighborhood, and work colleagues, among others.

The research suggests that most people have some form of supportive network, "spheres of support" or Circles of Care. These circles are not solutions for health but networks that have to be built, shared, and maintained. The central feature of the Circles of Care model and health as a social activity is the network. The network is key and is, in effect, the product of the service. At the moment, healthcare systems are improving the delivery of solutions to problems, but this new model provides a "support space" before the problems arise and the capacity to respond when they do.