Over the centuries women have predominantly been the carers of the sick, the injured and the elderly. It has taken only a few short decades for their knowledge to be professionalised and for the tasks to be considered necessary to be overseen by medical professionals. There are however, still, a large group of carers who, largely unseen and unsung, continue to do the extensive day by day hard work of caring for those in need. One of the thoughts that comes to mind is the need for information about herbs online so that once again the carers can take charge of their lives and those they care for.

It is very sad that traditional knowledge about herbs and the role of caring is being lost and carers deskilled. In the mid 20th century each girl was expected to undertake Red Cross training in Home Nursing and to learn how to do full barrier nursing in the home. It is no longer acceptable for an eight year old to be involved in nursing a highly infectious person. In those days infectious disease such as tuberculosis, scarlet fever and measles were well known in the community and nursing such patients was an important skill.

But why would it be a backward step for a child to have to learn that skill? Too many people cannot do much more than heat up an instant meal and yet they can use the internet to increase their skills of cooking, homemaking and learn about such things as herbs online. Medical care has become very expensive over the last 20 years. In addition to the higher expectations of living standards the cost of pharmaceuticals has skyrocketed as has the public’s expectation of their efficacy. Unfortunately this is not the case. Most people expect that medically prescribed drugs to be more than 80% effective. However many improve the body’s capacity to self heal by only a percent or two.. It is up to each person to take responsibility for their own health and learn as much as possible about their own self care including such options as meditation and herbs online so they can take charge of themselves. We need to take charge and re-skill ourselves.