Coping with COVID-19
Below are several ongoing efforts to provide support to our healthcare teams and their families during these challenging times.
We are committed to providing support for you and your family during this time with COVID-19. We want to acknowledge the stress, fear, anxiety and other complex emotions that come with the work we do at the front lines of caring amidst an unknown, ambiguous and evolving landscape. Thank you all for the unprecedented collaboration and creativity you are showing as we develop ways to best support our patients, community and each other in the face of COVID-19.
Website on trauma – www.TraumaMadeSimple.com
- ITG has compiled a list of 39 local therapists who are willing to donate time for pro bono therapy to health care workers in need. Each therapist is willing to offer 3 hours of therapy per client, with the option to negotiate more time if needed. The therapists have a variety of specialities, but all are capable of providing short term supportive counseling, some have experience in Critical Incident Stress Debriefing… There are also several who have offered to facilitate online groups (mindfulness, stress reduction, body-based breathwork, etc).
- For the individual sessions, Denise Wittlin -Horvath is planning to serve as the conduit to match clients with providers (there are several others who have volunteered to help if the coordination function becomes too overwhelming). Interested individuals should email [email protected] and they will be matched to a provider.
- If people are specifically interested in group work, they can use the above email.
Our mission at Cayuga Center for Healthy Living is “to positively impact the health and well-being of our community.” The current challenges related to responding to Coronavirus provide an opportunity for us to share information that might make things a bit easier for you. We will be sending some emails with ideas for healthy lifestyle and encouragement to care for yourself the best way you can during these uncertain times.
All of these websites have additional links and resources listed.
- Tips for Coping when in “Emergency Response” : https://emergency.cdc.gov/coping/responders.asp
- Health and Wellness Toolkit: https://www.acponline.org/system/files/documents/practice-resources/physician-wellbeing/mini_portfolio_prof_health_wellness.pdf
- Twitter #dontworryalone
- Betterhelp.com (online therapy)
- Talkspace.com (online therapy)
- Psychology today- listing of local mental health providers. Many mental health providers are offering telephone or video visits at this time.
- Bloom app: (https://apps.apple.com/us/app/bloom-cbt-therapy-self-care/id1475128511) interactive video classes, activities, based in cognitive behavioral therapy
- Also including this link: https://www.nami.org/Blogs/NAMI-Blog/March-2020/Coronavirus-Mental-Health-Coping-Strategies which describes some of the mental health implications of covid-19 and some coping strategies
Facebook Group: Tompkins County COVID-19 Healthcare Response Team Resources
Facebook Group: Mutual Aid Tompkins
Some Spiritual resources to help cope with COVID-19:
Spirituality is not only about specifically religious practices; it can be anything that offers meaning, purpose and connection. Spiritual Care seeks to address the existential questions that arise in times like this: Why is this happening to me? What happens next? What have I done to deserve this? Considering these questions is a part of the human experience, and can be an important aspect of coping with threats that arise in our lives, especially in times of crisis.
The Spiritual Care staff at CMC is available to support you in these difficult days. Please do not hesitate to contact us through the switchboard. One of our chaplains is always on call. In addition to a conversation with a chaplain, below are some additional resources that may be helpful.
- Check out a local faith community’s web streams, podcasts, and links. Search the name of a local faith community to see how they are handling online worship and devotional opportunities, and to see what resources they are recommending.
- In addition to local faith community resources, here are a few other resources we like:
- https://www.veritas.org/ The Veritas Forum puts the Christian Faith in dialogue with other beliefs and invites participants from all backgrounds to pursue wisdom/truth.
- Spiritual Care Tools: https://hds.harvard.edu/life-at-hds/religious-and-spiritual-life/caring-self-others-times-trouble-spiritual-tools-tips
- https://cac.org/category/daily-meditations/ Franciscan Priest Fr. Richard Rohr’s website for daily meditations and contemplation.
- Jewish Resources: https://www.jewishtogether.org/
- Misheberach: Jewish prayer of healing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHKo3CjuzpY
- Buddhist & Meditation Resources:
- Muslim Resources: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/
- A few podcasts we like:
- https://onbeing.org/ national podcast addressing spirituality, belief, and meaning-making
- https://theliturgists.com/podcast —interviews with a wide a variety of spiritual leaders, from various traditions
- Delving deeply into world religious beliefs: religionfacts.com.
- Resource about various world religions’ beliefs and practices. sacred.
- Helping others is a great way to get out of your own head/funk: care.com/c/stories/16698/ways-to-help-others-coronavirus/
- Engaging with the arts can be a balm on a hard day:
- https://www.virtualiteach.com/post/2017/08/20/10-amazing-virtual-museum-tours
- https://lincolncenter.org/lincoln-center-at-home Lincoln Center at Home
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBquwkE95p4 Alvin Ailey on YouTube
- Music has healing qualities on the body and soul. Play ambient, calm, meditation music or dance out your stress with your favorites. Many orchestras, singers and bands are offering free online concerts, operas, and music to inspire you. Here’s a piece from our own Ithaca therapeutic harpist Jayne Demakos https://youtu.be/Ktp7AFWN2nA
- Information on supporting children
- Seeking laughter and positive storylines can be inspiring and re-stabilizing for all of us. Chaplain’s Favorites: Brittany Runs a Marathon, Late Night, and Kirikou and the Sorceress (available on youtube)
- Ithaca Recovery Community is now on-line: https://www.ithacacommunityrecovery.org/meetings/alcoholics-anonymous/
- Grief Support from Hospicare is now on-line: https://www.hospicare.org/events/
- As well as resources about grief in the time Covid-19
- By far the most important habit is frequent hand washing. Wash your hands before leaving work and after arriving home. The highest risk part that we bring home from work or the community is dirty hands.
- Encourage everyone you live with to wash their hands frequently, kids included. Before eating, after using the rest room, after returning from an area outside of the home, after coughing or sneezing. Soap and water for 20 seconds or alcohol hand sanitizer both work well.
- If you provide direct patient care, change out of work shoes before leaving work or before entering your home.
- If you wear hospital provided scrubs at work, change back into street clothes and leave used scrubs at the hospital for laundering.
- If you provide direct patient care and wear home the clothes you worked in, change out of them on arrival home. This does not have to be exterior to the home.
- If you feel healthy and have not had contact with someone with COVID without personal protective equipment on, it is safe to have normal contact with your loved ones.
Optional Actions:
- Discontinue wearing accessories such as rings, watches, necklaces, dangly earrings.
- Protect Phones by placing in a snack bag size ziplock bag before starting a shift. Remove and discard and disinfect phone after work and at night to have a clean phone in your home. Touchscreen and microphone tend to work fine through the bag.
Coronavirus and COVID-19 have caused many changes in daily life. Children may be confused, worried, or scared. Parents and caregivers often don’t know what to say or how much to tell their children.
Learn more from St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital
Cayuga Medical Center – The Employee Assistance Program (EAP) is a FREE and CONFIDENTIAL service for employees and eligible family members. The EAP provides priority access to our clinical professionals for confidential assessment, short term counseling and/or referral to address personal, family and/or workplace challenges you may be experiencing.
Cayuga Medical Associates – You and your eligible family members can trust the Balance Works service for assistance with everyday work and family issues, as well as more challenging personal concerns.
Movement is an important coping mechanism to use in times of uncertainty. It can help keep anxiety at bay, boost your immune system, and maintain a sense of normalcy and well-being!
While it is important to limit trips to the store, you don’t have to forgo eating well. There’s no need to clean out your local grocer, but shopping for the week ahead and keeping some extra shelf-stable foods on hand will help minimize outings. With a little bit of planning you can enjoy healthy meals at home even if fresh ingredients are limited.
Your days and nights might look a little different right now. Keeping some sort of a routine can help us find our daily rhythm. Set a time for the basics, like a wake-up time, mealtimes, work and play times, and a bedtime. Setting aside time for breaks, which could include a snack, is a good way to create work/life balance if you are now working from home.
Notice
Notice how you are feeling in the moment. It’s normal to feel stressed, anxious, or maybe even a little stir-crazy! Press pause and ask yourself if food will help to nourish you at this time. If you’re feeling hungry, take note of your hunger level using the hunger/satiety scale (1 = extremely hungry, 10 = extremely full).
Choose Thoughtfully
We can’t control who practices social distancing or what is left of the canned goods at the grocery store, but we can control what we choose to snack on in the moment. We have that choice! Choose thoughtfully, and ask yourself, will this snack take the edge off my hunger?
Slow Down
Choose a snack that is tasty and satisfying, and then take a little time to then enjoy that snack. Sit down, set aside distractions, chew slowly, and savor it.
Practice Kindness and Patience
If you feel guilty for a food choice you made, it does not mean it was a bad choice. Be kind and patient with yourself during these challenging times. Cooking balanced meals or choosing and enjoying tasty snacks is a form of self-care!
A note about emotional eating…
Emotional eating gets a bad rep. Eating for reasons other than hunger is typically viewed as undesirable, something to be avoided at all costs. Yet, as humans, we are emotional beings! Food can be so much more than “gas in the tank.” Enjoying a decadent meal with family to celebrate a special occasion, curling up with hot chocolate on a cold night, or diving in to your favorite comfort food when you are particularly stressed in order to invite a little joy into your life that day can all be part of a healthy eating pattern. Pattern, though, is the key word.
We are facing uniquely challenging times. Yet, I think we can all agree that the unique part of the current situation is not alone the fact that it is challenging. Every day may be filled with a new trial. Sometimes that trial is a pandemic; other times, it is a more subtle stressor. We may not be able to control, or even easily identify, those things, but what we do have control over is how we respond.
Perhaps heading for the kitchen is your common response. It may be for a lot of us, especially in these times of flipped schedules, and increased time spent the home. Sometimes, food can fill our emotional need in that moment. Most of the time, it’s not quite enough. Where emotional eating can become harmful to our health – both physical and emotional health – is when it is our only tool in the toolbox. What is our pattern of response? Open up your toolbox right now and take stock. In what ways can you cope with some of these familiar struggles? Anxious? Call a friend. Angry? Write about it. Tired? Take a mental break from your current activity. Low energy? Take a little walk. Sad? Cry, it’s OK! Bored? Start a new project. Hungry? Follow the steps above to mindfully enjoy a snack. Emotions are meant to be experienced, not shoved back in with food. Give yourself permission to feel, and then respond, thoughtfully. If you are having trouble figuring out what it is your body may be needing, check out the attached infographic on physical vs emotional hunger.
When we practice implementing a non-diet approach, mindful eating techniques (like the ones listed above) or intuitive eating principles (more resources below), can help us tune into our bodies’ true needs and gain control over our eating habits.
As the saying goes, this too shall pass. And when it does, what will we have learned? What coping skills will we have developed? Take a look down below for additional resources on how to practice these
Intuitive Eating:
https://www.wellandgood.com/good-food/intuitive-eating-principles/
https://www.intuitiveeating.org/10-principles-of-intuitive-eating/
Mindfulness and Mindful Eating:
What happens while we are asleep? Research continues to find more and more important tasks vital to our overall health that our brains and bodies carry out while we sleep. In addition to the risks of being drowsy and the challenge of general fatigue, inadequate sleep increases our susceptibility to viral infections, risk for several chronic diseases, including heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, obesity and diabetes, and incidence of mental health problems, including depression and anxiety. Both the quantity and quality of sleep matters, and the message today includes tips you can follow to try and maximize both. If poor sleep continues after making efforts to improve your sleep, discuss with your primary care provider, as referral to a sleep specialist may be needed to check for a sleep disorder.
The following videos demonstrates a brief look at some core stretches to keep us all flexible and moving well. They can be done several times a day during breaks:
Repeated sit to stand from a firm chair. Begin seated on edge of seat. Reach arms forward. Inhale to prepare. Stand up as you exhale. Reaching arms forward as you stand up will help prevent you from slouching. Exhaling as you stand up will help you engage your core musculature and avoid breath-holding. Inhale and sit back down. Repeat 10 times in a row or until you feel signs of fatigue in your legs. Then rest for 45 seconds. Repeat one more set of the same number of repetitions.
Benefits: Increases blood flow. Strengthens lower body and core.
Standing trunk extensions. Stand up. Brace your core by drawing in your abdominal muscles as you exhale. Your back should not move as you do this. Keep your abdominals drawn in and breathe normally as you then lean backwards and then come back to standing. Move within a painfree range. Repeat 5-10 times.
Benefits: Helps maintain spinal and hip flexibility. Important to do if you’ve been sitting for 30 minutes or longer.
Shoulder blade squeezes. Stand up. Brace your core by drawing in your abdominal muscles as you exhale. Your back should not move as you do this. Keep your abdominals drawn in and breathe normally as you pull your shoulder blades together towards your spine. Hold for 3-5 seconds, then release. Your elbows should not move very far beyond your body. The focus is on moving the shoulder blades.
Benefits: Helps reduce strain on the upper back and neck muscles after prolonged sitting.
Standing thoracic rotations. Stand up. Brace your core by drawing in your abdominal muscles as you exhale. Your back should not move as you do this. Keep your abdominals drawn in and breathe normally as you bring your arms up and out to shoulder height with straight elbows. Now turn your chest all the way to the right and then all the way to the left within a painfree range. Try to keep your pelvis facing forward as your chest rotates.
Benefits: Improves flexibility of the midback.
Disclaimer: Discontinue these exercises if you experience pain that does not resolve after 5-10 repetition or if you are unsteady and at risk for falling.
what our patients are saying
“I have to say the last couple visits that I’ve had here have been wonderful. About a month ago I had an EGD and the staff were amazing! Explained everything in detail and made me feel at ease. I was very nervous and the nurse I had was very comforting. Tonight we had to take my son to the emergency room and they were awesome with him! We got right in. “
“The staff and accommodations at Cayuga Birthplace are amazing!!! This is what it I imagine it would feel like to be a celebrity getting VIP treatment. I wish I could stay longer – even the food options are 5 Star! The amenities are great. Everything is clean and designed beautifully. Not a single complaint, only praises!”
“I have been a Hemo dialysis patient for almost Five years. Prior to dialysis and during dialysis I have had several trips to the ER, due to other health issues & was admitted to CMC more than a few times. Each and every time I’ve been there, whether in patient or out, I have been treated with respect, professionalism, and efficiency. I give this hospital 2 thumbs up!! Thank you CMC for taking care of me all these years!!”
“I have had many occasions visiting CMC for myself and family. We have never had a bad experience there at all. Last October I had surgery and the nurses were amazing especially my night nurse. Thank you to all CMC staff for doing what you do every day with a smile.”
