Supporting Health and Well-Being

#FirstRespondersFirst

The ability to heal is at the center of any health condition and every health crisis.  This is a human truth. The people at the center of public health are our first responders: our frontline workers, healthcare professionals, social workers and caregivers.  In order to do their job of caring for others, they must be well-supported with resources that lift them up and strengthen their resilience, mentally and physically.

The Compassion in Action Webinar Series offers healthcare workers, leaders and managers a unique opportunity to learn about topics related to compassionate, collaborative care from leading practitioners and researchers in this field. 

Healthcare Workers

The Tapping Solution can provide control and support as you work through difficult and traumatic emotions. This article explains the effect of emotional freedom techniques on nurses’ stress, anxiety, and burnout levels during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Academic Consortium for Integrative Medicine and Health has a collection of well-being resources for yourself and others.

This PTSD Coach Online provides specific tools for specific problems you may want help with. If you are experiencing grief, you may find resources to cope here.

The National Academy of Medicine has curated a large bank of resources to support the health and well-being of clinicians during the COVID-19 outbreak.

This article shares important information on how nurses can protect themselves from the effects of secondary trauma and compassion fatigue as they work to save others.

Personal Skills

This helpful infographic provides tips for how to reduce your workplace stress whether you are a leader or any member of a team.

Fortify your skill set to cope with the challenges ahead: Dr. Tony Bach (UW Oncology) and Larisa Benson offer “Preparing Ourselves for the Next Wave”. This 30 minute session introduces mindfulness practices you can use on the fly and creates space to address your concerns.

The Faculty Factory podcast has a brief guided meditation for a few minutes of calm. Neda Gould, PhD also provides tips for dealing with uncertainty in uncertain times. Mindfulness Northwest has a collection of free mindfulness tips and practices.

FACE COVID: How to respond effectively to the corona crisis by Dr. Russ Harris, author of The Happiness Trap. Practice these skills on better managing your energy and attention to maximize your resilience and performance. Use this brochure to build your responder personal resilience plan.

Free smartphone apps that promote mental well-being:  VA COVID Coach, Mindfulness Coach, Virtual HopeBox, CBT-I Coach, My3

Families and Partners

Here are tips for taking care of yourself and your family members during the coronavirus outbreak. And here are five ways to help during the coronavirus.

The UW Center for Child & Family Well-Being has updated its events and classes and maintains an online resource library of resources to support you and your family.

This Behavioral Health Toolbox for Families: Supporting Children and Teens During the COVID-19 Pandemic provides tips on how to navigate some of the emotional responses that families may experience during this pandemic.

We know this is a challenging time for the families of our healthcare workers. You may listen to and watch recent peer support sessions for partners and spouses of healthcare workers here and here.

Resilience Recovery Skills

Drs. Kristen Lindgren & Michele Bedard-Gilligan present, “Fostering Resilience During Times of Chronic Stress: Strengthening Coping and Protecting the Most Vulnerable” on October 7, 2020. In this video you will learn effective strategies for coping adaptively, including ways to tolerate and manage anxiety, access and maximize supports, and process feelings and thoughts in a helpful way. The presenters also discuss how you can use these strategies to support and bolster the people around you.

Drs. Kristen Lindgren & Michele Bedard-Gilligan, with their colleague Dr. Emily Dworkin, teach about Psychological First Aid (PFA). PFA is an evidence-informed prevention strategy aimed at reducing and increasing resilience during and following mass disasters, including natural disasters and pandemics. PFA provides a flexible framework for specialty and non-specialty providers to support affected individuals and help them mobilize their natural, adaptive coping strategies. You may review the PFA for leaders and managers slides and PFA for Peer to Peer slides. Here are strategies for coping, grounding, and core skills for managersWatch the April 22nd recording with password 2j&33sHt and the April 28th recording.

 


 

Community Mental Health Resources

Several mental health professionals have expressed an interest in working with healthcare workers dealing with the COVID-19 outbreak. You can find the list of Seattle area mental health resources and therapists who are available to work with new clients, initially via telehealth.

This Google doc was not created by or behalf of UW Medicine and is being offered as a personal resource tool only; it is not intended to supplement or replace any employment benefits provided by UW Medicine.  This is not intended to be a recommendation, referral, or endorsement of any providers or services included in this resource.  UW Medicine disclaims any liability that may arise of out use of the resource, any relationship entered into with the listed providers, or for any care that is provided thereof.  You can contact these providers directly for additional information.  There are external resources available to assist in selecting a mental health provider that may be helpful to you, such as ensuring the provider has a license in our state WA Department of Health Credential Search and this site has Tips for contacting a community provider. Any questions about this Google doc should be directed to Andrew Bryant: andrew@northseattletherapy.com.  For information or questions on mental health benefits available to you as a UW employee, go to the UW Human Resources benefits page where there is also a link to the Employee Assistance Program.

 


 

Physical Wellness

Fitness Studios

Yoga 

Exercise Apps

 


 

Tips for Healthcare Teams

WHO: Coping with stress during the 2019-nCov outbreak

Communicable disease psychosocial considerations for responding healthcare providers

Tips for dealing with stress during and after your work shift 

A simple guide for smart leadership