Self Management Reflective Practice is a CPD-accredited training session which provides an opportunity for frontline health and social care professionals to explore how best to support people living with long term conditions and carers to self manage.

The session is designed to support staff to recognise their strengths and build on the support they offer to people. It offers a space to explore ideas and opportunities to move forward.

The training is based on the real experiences of people living with long term conditions and unpaid carers and what they would like from professionals who support their self management. People have shared a range of stories which we use to support professionals reflect on using existing skills to support self management.

Who is the session aimed at?

The session is for frontline health and social care professionals who work with individuals living with a long term condition and unpaid carers. This includes nurses, allied health professionals, doctors, care workers and third sector staff.

At the end of the session participants will have:

• A clearer and broader understanding of what self management means as a person centred approach
• Explored what they can do in their role to support individuals to self manage and what support they need to be able to work this way
• Knowledge of where to find further support and resources about self management
• Made plans about what actions to take next

Content

Each session can be tailored to suit a specific group of participants to ensure everyone gets the maximum benefit.

The session is a thinking space where participants can put their learning about self management into the context of their own role.  We explore what self management means and how it benefits people. Participants hear real life stories, there are opportunities to discuss challenges and solutions, and a space to think about what action can be taken to support self management.

For individual sessions we ask for a minimum number of 10 participants and a maximum of 20.

On completion, participants will receive a certificate confirming up to 3.5 hours of CPD activity.

Ongoing support and opportunities

After the session, participants are invited to connect with the ALLIANCE’s Self Management Programme going forward, which provides opportunities for further connection and discussion. Participants are also able to join the other 1,000+ members of the Self Management Network Scotland, to share learning with many others working to embed self management in health and social care practice.

To discuss, please get in touch with the Self Management Team at smns@alliance-scotland.org.uk

View a list of the projects currently in receipt of a grant from the Self Management Fund (link will open in a new page).

The ALLIANCE hosts a Self Management celebration annually, celebrating self management across Scotland with a range of events, ALLIANCE Live activity and the Self Management Awards.

The week brings people together to share learning across the Self Management Network Scotland, the Self Management Fund projects and the wider ALLIANCE membership.

In 2025, Self Management Week will run from 22-25 September with online, in-person and hybrid events.

An awareness raising campaign will run from late June until September, highlighting how self management can improve lives, and providing insights and examples of good practice.

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Self Management for Life: Round 3 will support projects supporting people to self manage at an early stage with their long term condition, disability or unpaid caring responsibility, targeting health inequalities or supporting people on long waiting lists.

Third sector and community organisations can apply for a small grant of up to £15,000 for up to 12 months or up to £150,000 for up to 36 months.

Apply online

Guidance documents are available to download below. . We have created a brief how-to video showing how to make an account on our online platform. If you lack regular internet access or have other reasons for requiring an offline version of the application form, please contact Chris Dempster on 0141 640 0872 to discuss alternatives.

To be successful, applicants must demonstrate that they meet all five core Self Management Fund criteria, as well as one of the Self Management for Life: Round 3 priorities.

Core Criteria:

• The project is a new idea, or a development of an existing idea.
• The idea has come from the people it is designed to benefit. 
• Disabled people, individuals living with long term conditions and/or unpaid carers will be enabled to take a leadership role in the design, delivery and evaluation of the project. 
• The capacity of disabled people, individuals living with long term conditions and/or unpaid carers to effectively self manage will be enhanced.
• The principles of self management identified in Gaun Yersel!: the Self Management Strategy for Scotland are at the heart of the project.

Priorities for this round:

1. Work that aligns with secondary prevention by working to embed self management soon after a long term condition or disability is identified, or early in someone’s unpaid caring role.
2. Work that seeks to address health inequalities while increasing the self management capacity of people with long term conditions, disabilities and/or unpaid caring responsibilities who experience these inequalities.
3. Work that develops the self management capacity of people living with long term conditions, disabilities, and/or their unpaid carers, whilst awaiting health or social care support.

You can watch a recording of the presentation from our Q&A sessions, in which Programme Manager Grace talks through key criteria, eligibility and how to apply, below if you are unable to attend:

For any queries, please contact fund@alliance-scotland.org.uk or call 0141 640 0872.

The Self Management Network Scotland brings together over 1,000 third sector staff, healthcare professionals and individuals. Join the network to become part of a community working to change the delivery of health and social care. Share your knowledge of self management best practice and learn from others working in this way and from people with experience of self managing a long term condition.

The network aims to share self management learning and connect efforts to improve self management support in Scotland. Learning from the Self Management Fund is shared across the network, supporting one of the Fund’s key aims of investing in learning about self management practices.

A monthly network bulletin keeps members informed about the work of the ALLIANCE and its partners, and Self Management Week and other events are run throughout the year for the wider network along with bespoke sessions for individual groups. The team also link with and support regional self management networks.

If you have any questions about Self Management Network Scotland please email us at smns@alliance-scotland.org.uk or call 0141 404 0231 and ask for the Self Management Team.

Self Management is a way of living and working that means people living with long term conditions feel more in control of their own health and wellbeing. It supports people to live their lives better, on their terms.

Self management supports and encourages people living with long term conditions to access information and to develop skills to find out what’s right for their condition and, most importantly, right for them. Gaun Yersel: The Self Management Strategy for Scotland, was developed by the ALLIANCE with support from people with lived experience, and aims to work towards a situation in which everyone in Scotland living with long term conditions has access to the support they need to successfully manage their condition.

Together with health professionals and with those who provide support, self management can help people to make decisions that are right for their life.

Self management can mean people being:

• better informed about their condition(s)
• better prepared for everyday challenges
• better supported when they need it

The ALLIANCE works to embed this approach across Scotland through our self management work:

• The Self Management Fund for Scotland
• The Self Management Network Scotland, a network of over 1,000 organisations and individuals
• Delivering training and events to explore and support self management, such as Self Management Reflective Practice and Self Management Week and Awards.

To find out how to support your health and wellbeing through self management, speak to your GP or health professional or visit A Local Information System for Scotland (ALISS) to search for health and wellbeing resources in your area.

Here are some further resources and information on self management:

• The Self Management team’s video resources ‘Self Management 101’ on our YouTube channel ALLIANCE Live, on what self management can look like in a range of contexts.

• Opinion piece on self management, written by the ALLIANCE Self Management Team.

• Webinar on supported self management in stroke care, delivered by Professor Lisa Kidd, the learning from which is transferable to other situations beyond stroke care.
  
• Self Management resources for wellbeing developed by COPE Scotland.

• NHS Inform is Scotland’s national health information service helping the people in Scotland to make informed decisions about their own health and the health of the people they care for.

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