Mental Health and Psychosocial Considerations During COVID-19 Outbreak
(World Health Organisation, 2020)
PARENTS
- Help children find positive ways to express their feelings and emotion such as fear and sadness. Engage some creative activity to facilitate this process such as playing, drawing and etc. Children feel relieved if they can express and communicate their feelings in a safe and supportive environment.
- Try to keep children close to parents and family. If there is a need for separation, ensure appropriate alternative care is provided, keep follow up on children and contact with children regularly such as twice-daily scheduled phone or video calls
- During times of stress and crisis, it is common for children to seek more attachment and be more demanding on parents. Discuss COVID-19 with your children using honest and age-appropriate way. If your children have concerns, addressing those together may ease their anxiety. Refer the following websites for Coronavirus social story (https://littlepuddins.ie/coronavirus-social-story/ or https://www.mindheart.co/descargables). Children will observe adults’ behaviors and emotions for cues on how to manage their own emotions during difficult times.
- Maintain familiar daily routines or create new routines, especially when children are required to stay at home. Provide and encourage engaging age appropriate activities for children, including learning activities, playing, socialize with others. Activities can be carrying on within the family when are advised to restrict social contact.
ADULTS
- Avoid watching, reading or listening to news that cause you to feel anxious excessively or distressed unnecessarily; seek information mainly to take practical steps to prepare your plans and protect yourself and loved ones. The sudden and near-constant stream of news reports about an outbreak can cause anyone to feel worried. Get the facts. Gather information at regular intervals, from reliable sources in order to help you distinguish facts from rumours. For example: WHO website, local health authorities platforms (MyHealthKKM, call Crisis Preparedness and Response Centre (CPRC) 0388810200, 0388810600, 0388810700).
- During times of stress, pay attention to your own needs and feelings. Engage in healthy activities that you enjoy and find relaxing. Exercise accordingly, keep regular sleep routines and eat healthy food. Keep things in perspective. Public health agencies and experts in all countries are working on the outbreak to ensure the availability of the best care to those affected. Avoid using unhelpful coping strategies such as tobacco, alcohol or other drugs. In the long term, these can worsen your mental and physical wellbeing.
- Keep regular routines and schedules or create new activity in a new environment, including regular exercising, cleaning, daily chores, singing, painting or other activities. Learn simple daily physical exercises to perform at home, in quarantine or isolation to maintain mobility and reduce boredom.
- Stay connected and maintain your social networks. Even in situations of isolations, try as much as possible to keep your personal daily routines. If health authorities have recommended limiting your physical social contact to contain the outbreak, you can stay connected via e-mail, social media, video conference and telephone.
- Be prepared and know in advance where and how to get practical help if needed, like calling a Taxi, having food delivered and requesting medical care.
- If you have an underlying health condition, make sure to have access to any medications that you are currently using. Activate your social contacts to provide you with assistance, if needed.
OLDER ADULTS
- Older adults, especially in isolation and those with cognitive decline/dementia, may become more anxious, angry, stressed, agitated, and withdrawn during the outbreak/while in quarantine. Provide practical and emotional support through informal networks (families) and health professionals.
- Share simple facts about what is going on and give clear information about how to reduce risk of infection in words to older people with/without cognitive impairment that they can understand. Repeat the information whenever necessary. Instructions need to be communicated in a clear, concise, respectful and patient way. It may also be helpful for information to be displayed in writing or pictures. Engage family and other support networks in providing information and helping them practice prevention measures (e.g. handwashing etc.)
References
Cruz, M. M. (2020). Covibook. https://www.mindheart.co/descargables
Guinness, A. M. (2020, March 13). What is the coronavirus. https://littlepuddins.ie/coronavirus-social-story/
World Health Organisation. (2020, March 6). Mental Health and Psychosocial Considerations During COVID-19 Outbreak. https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/coronaviruse/mental-health-considerations.pdf?sfvrsn=6d3578af_2