Bayer sets out science-led self-care principles to give consumers control over health

‘Science-led self-care companies have been swept along with bubble baths and yoga, rather than emphasising that self-care exists in a broad healthcare continuum.’

Bayer Consumer Health has released a paper setting out five key principles that should underpin all self-care products. The company said that the paper: Science-Led Self-Care: Principles for Best Practice, is intended to ‘spark a conversation within the industry and its key stakeholders around the need to promote science-led self-care for the benefit of consumers’.

The 26-page paper sets out what it calls the five essential principles of science-led self-care. These are:

1. The Science of the Human
2. The Science of Regulation
3. The Science of Collaboration
4. The Science of Discovery
5. The Science of the Consumer-Product Experience

Taking the World Health Organisation’s definition of self-care – ‘The ability of individuals, families and communities to promote health, prevent disease, maintain health and cope with illness and disability with or without the support of a healthcare provider’ – Bayer says that self-care requires consumers to trust that the choices they make are the best. The paper proposes that sound science is a core component of earning that trust.

Bayer's five principles of science-led self-care. Bayer

The report states: ‘Everyone in the self-care industry thinks it, though no one is prepared to say it: science-led self-care companies have been swept along with bubble baths and yoga, rather than emphasising that self-care exists in a broad healthcare continuum. What’s more, consumers think so too.’

Abbie Lennox, Global Chief Regulatory, Medical Safety and Compliance Officer, Consumer Health Division of Bayer said: ‘We owe it to the consumer to help them navigate the self-care landscape and identify the products and services that are grounded in science and will help them to prevent diseases and live healthy lives. Our five Principles of Science-Led Self-Care can be blueprint for deeper discussion within our industry and about how best we help consumers navigate a confusing landscape,’

The paper asserts that with an ageing world population, the focus of healthcare is shifting to preventative strategies to maintain people’s health and wellbeing into old age. Bayer added that its own research had shown that after Covid-19, healthy ageing was at the forefront of consumers’ minds.

Bayer’s paper concludes: ‘The reality is that the world of self-care is constantly evolving and there are ongoing changes and disruptors leading to further questions to explore […] This is only the beginning of the conversation: we are keen to enlist the help of experts across the field of self-care to find these answers.’

The company is planning to hold workshops with key stakeholders, and anyone wanting to share their thoughts can do so by emailing feedbackSOSH@bayer.com.