Brighton Hospice Presents
Self Care During COVID-19
At the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, Dr. Kirsten Carr of Portland, Oregon advised the Brighton Hospice team, “This is a marathon.”
Rather than wondering when this pandemic will be over, Dr. Carr’s advice is to mentally prepare for the long haul. “It helps to re-frame that this will be going on for probably a year or 18 months in some form.”
As 2020 continues, caregivers everywhere are feeling the burnout caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s important to emphasize that you do not need to be in a healthcare profession to feel burned out as a caregiver.
“We are all caregivers in some way or another,” says Andrea Munier, COO of Brighton Hospice. “Whether we work in [an] office or work out at facilities taking care of patients, we always have someone besides ourselves who we’re looking after.”
Now more than ever, it is so important for caregivers to continue to give excellent care not only to those they care for, but to themselves as well.
To promote a renewed focus on self care, the Brighton Hospice Support Services Team will be producing a series of videos focusing on different methods of self care.
For many, the term “self care” may conjure social media-driven images of luxurious candle-lit bubble baths or meditating on a mountain top.
Of course, such methods can be effective. But self care, as Brighton Hospice owner Erin Bennett reminds us, does not need to be complicated. Self care can be “anything from getting enough sleep, to exercising, to eating right, to hydrating.”
“Our hope,” says Erin, “is that everybody will watch these videos and take some time for themselves and do that self care.”
