Self-Care During COVID-19

This Quarter: FOCUS ON

Self-Care

Quarterly

Resource Newsletter

2020 Vol.II

Self-Care

In the past, this quarterly newsletter has been focused on topics that increase knowledge and resources that will benefit the customers/clients/neighbors. This issue is a special edition newsletter focused on you, the agency partner, to provide a venue for reflection and resources that will benefit you in this atypical climate of a pandemic.

We care. We are caregivers. The work we do speaks to each of us differently. We are asked to ‘do more with less’ caring for others by making sure their basic needs for food are met. It can be easy to overlook, dismiss or push aside the care we need to give ourselves in order to do the work.

Self-care is spoken with great frequency these days as we find ourselves living and serving under the pandemic. Whether you have been considering a plan of action to relieve stress or you are a well-practiced professional let’s take a moment and break it down.

Self-Care - the practice of taking an active role in protecting one's own well-being and happiness, in particular during periods of stress.

Without a doubt we are most definitely living in a period of high stress. More than ever we need to make sure we are taking proper care of ourselves first. We are here to support you with information and suggestions as we take the opportunity in this issue of the Agency360 Quarterly Resource Newsletter to help you take care of yourself.

Whether you call it mindfulness or self-care it all boils down to individuality. Everyone’s approach will be different. Hopefully the information, resources, suggested readings and examples from your peers will spark something within you and help to bring a moment of calm to your day.

How Your Peers Are Practicing Self-Care

We asked several of the Agency Council Partners to share with us how they and their staff are coping and taking time for self-care.

Nick Linkenhoker

Executive Director

Worthington Resources

What are your methods of “Self-Care” in times of high demand/stress?

For me, the times of high stress are the easier part, I can devote my brain to the topic at hand. The hard part is the aftermath, shutting down when it's time to go home. I try to turn off the ringer of my cell phone, leave it on a shelf, and stop reading emails and the news, and I watch an episode of The West Wing. Since I've seen every episode multiple times, it gives my head an opportunity to sort itself out. I also always leave Sundays mornings to go to Mass with my family, eat a good breakfast, and enjoy the morning. Almost everything can wait until noon on Sunday.

How are you protecting yourself from secondary trauma in the work place?

I try not to focus on individuals and think of our service area as a whole, how we can serve the most people effectively. It's kept me from feeling too much secondary trauma, but it has the side effect of making it sometimes harder for me to be sympathetic to people who have specific problems.

How do you help your staff and volunteers from experiencing burnout?

We've been spreading out the workload as much as we can. Early on in my career, I had a volunteer who loved being involved in everything he could with the organization I was working with at the time, and because he was reliable and capable, I let him volunteer for as many tasks as he wanted to take on. Then his job changed and he left the organization. All of the sudden, I needed five volunteers to take the place of one. That experience has stuck with me, and now I don't have a problem asking a volunteer or staff member to go home, take care of themselves, and come back refreshed tomorrow or the next day. The person might not like it, and I can't control what they do when they go home, but it helps keep people from burning out on the job.

Self-Care is…

Important - To maintain a healthy relationship with yourself.

Necessary - To remind yourself and others that you and your needs are important too.

Any Activity - That can be done deliberately in order to take care of one’s mental, emotional, and physical health.

Key - To improved mood and reduced anxiety.

Kathy Kelly Long

Pantry Manager

Broad Street Presbyterian Food Pantry

What are your methods of “Self-Care” in times of high demand/stress?

Establish work boundaries and keep non-work time for family/relaxation.
Spend time outdoors in nice weather or snuggled in my chair with a good book

in yucky weather.

Exercise.
Chocolate.

How do you help your staff and volunteers from experiencing burnout?

I keep things as light as possible – I joke a lot and smile a lot (even when you can’t see it behind my mask.)
Lots of thank you's.
Making sure I know volunteers’ names and use their names often.
Letting them know how many they helped serve.

Mardi Ciriaco

Pantry Director

Gladden House

What are your methods of “Self-Care” in times of high demand/stress?

I try to ride my bike 6-10 miles or walk 30 minutes everyday; just to get outside. Walking with other friends or my husband just to talk about the day and limit the "venting virus" chat. I am not a big fan of carry out, so I have been cooking every night but one night a week; trying to eat healthy food. We have continued to have one other couple over for dinner on Saturday; 6ft apart. Trying to continue a sense of a normal routine as much as possible.

How are you protecting yourself from secondary trauma in the work place?

I really do not feel, nor do I anticipate any secondary trauma for me in the work place. Work is work it is not my life. Stay the course and keep moving programs and staff forward.

How do you help your staff and volunteers from experiencing burnout?

Rotating staff and not having many clients in the building has moved the staff at Gladden to become a bit lethargic. They still have great attitudes toward clients, but I know they miss the "high energy" of a busy agency; they are missing seeing people in person. There is an emotional gap with just talking on the phone or just having zoom meetings. I have encouraged folks to take time off to avoid burn out. We are starting to move staff back into the building and actually hired two new case managers that will start Monday.

Staff need a sense of normalcy. Pantry staff have experienced stress around the threat of the virus and the change in the process at the pantry. We moved several furloughed staff over to the pantry which reduced the burnout by providing more consistent assistance. The pantry is the busiest of our departments right now and the agency has tried to provide support by adding additional staff. We also have encouraged pantry staff to take time off as well.

Martin Butler

Executive Director

NSI Inc.

What are your methods of “Self-Care” in times of high demand/stress?

Taking a walk, running or some kind of physical activity. Counting my blessings and not too much contemplation about what is going on, instead I remind myself how lucky that I am to be working on feeding people and that I am not alone in doing this. Working in my garden, greenhouse and with my chickens while listening to music.

How are you protecting yourself from secondary trauma in the work place?

Be patient with yourself and everyone. This is new to everyone and EVERYTHING is going to take longer. Remember it is OK to be vulnerable, especially when you are leading, people are more likely to relax and work harder knowing you are more like them than different. Take a walk for five minutes if you are getting upset, it is amazing how a small pause can make a difference.

How do you help your staff and volunteers from experiencing burnout?

C ommunicate – not just zoom meetings, email or text. How about a phone call? People need to feel connected, now more than ever, sometimes phone calls take longer, but, EVERYTHING is going to take longer, find some pleasure in communicating with others. Do yourself a favor and walk around and speak to everyone at a distance talk to all your volunteers and your team, find out what is going on with them – just listen, be thoughtful and extra kind to your people – A hand written note telling them about how what you have witnessed them doing during this trying time means more than you know. Celebrate nothing and everything! Appreciating all of the people around you takes time, this pandemic is giving us the opportunity to connect to one another in a new way, we just have to reach out and take it.

Mindfulness is... a mental state achieved by focusing one's awareness on the present moment. Accepting one's feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations, used as a therapeutic technique.

Intention – Your intention is what you hope to get from practicing mindfulness.

Attention – Mindfulness is about paying attention to your inner or outer experience.

Attitude – Mindfulness involves paying attention to certain attitudes, such as curiosity, acceptance and kindness.

Roy Clark

Executive Director

NNEMAP

What are your methods of “Self-Care” in times of high demand/stress?

1. I try to connect each day to our volunteers by checking to see how they are doing.

2. I am having fun with our neighbors when I see them come up to the door. I know many of them and it is good to see their eyes light up when I ask how their family is doing.

3. I am trying to take long walks as many days as possible

How do you help your staff and volunteers from experiencing burnout?

We have had some pizza parties which are fun. We are putting 2 together on projects so they can connect and enjoy their work a bit more. We are all trying to keep things light and fun. And the many, many thank you's go a long way.

Keely Warden

Executive Director

Christ's Table

What are your methods of “Self-Care” in times of high demand/stress?

Thankfully the weather has improved a bit and my husband and I made a promise to explore hiking in a different spot of Ohio each weekend. We pack a picnic and pick a direction based on weather and hit the trails. I am a summer hiker so spring hikes have been vastly different the spring flowers, moss, animals and trees have helped to set my mind in the right direction for the next week. Fresh air has been my key to self-health.

How are you protecting yourself from secondary trauma in the work place?

Secondary Trauma is a tough one we are in a battle with each day at Christ's Table. We are working longer and harder. Things are very cumbersome the way we are serving customers while using PPE's. It is tough; tough for our staff and our volunteers.

Staff is tired, volunteers are limited. The tough part for us is most of my staff are minimum wage employees - with unemployment, the extra $600 that unemployed are receiving all of our staff (including me) would stand to make more money being laid-off. This has been a really hard battle I address daily.

Morale has been difficult - but I have a great team here, our mission is our priority and we have not wavered!

How do you help your staff and volunteers from experiencing burnout?

As for staff I have been encouraging them to take time for themselves. A day here and there to rest and enjoy whatever it is they enjoy and can still do. I purchase treats from a local bakery; iced cookies, homemade donuts. We have even purchased gift certificates from local stores and restaurants for our employees

Jennifer Fralic, RD

Director of LSS Food Pantries

Lutheran Social Services

What are your methods of “Self-Care” in times of high demand/stress?

I make a point of exercising regularly and writing in my gratitude journal. It is also helpful to share my feelings with my family and friends. My girlfriends and I use the app “Marco Polo” to vent, share funny stories, and memories. It is a low pressure alternative to Zoom get-together's.

How are you protecting yourself from secondary trauma in the work place?

Our team makes a point to be prepared for each distribution. We are in a good place when we start, and that allows us to handle customers with grace. Ed and I make a point to check in with staff, and the team knows it’s OK to debrief and vent after a stressful encounter.

How do you help your staff and volunteers from experiencing burnout?

We have changed our processes to be more predictable during this volatile time. We have a white board in the common area, and it helps everyone to know the order of the day/week. Our team values humor, and we can shake the blahs through laughter. We are flexible and allow/encourage staff to take a day off if they need it

Mindful Breathing is...

Trying to calm yourself through breath during a stressful moment.

You can start by:

Taking – An exaggerated breath in through your nose for 4 seconds.

Holding – Holding your breath for 3 seconds.

Exhaling – Through your mouth for 4 seconds.

Repeating - For at least 3 to 4 cycles or until you feel calm.

How Are You Practicing Mindfulness and Self-Care?

If you'd like to share your thoughts and methods please email them to Ann Miller-Tobin so we may continue to support one another and share our best practices. Send your thoughts to: Amillertobin@MOF.org

Supporting Yourself Through Self-Care

The Ohio State University

Office of Student Life Counseling and Consultation Service

OSU.EDU

April 6, 2020

Self-care is always a helpful tool for improving your mental health and wellness, but in challenging times like these when our normal lives are disrupted, it’s even more important to focus on taking care of yourself through regular self-care practices. We’ve put together a collection of self-care ideas that can help as you start incorporating self-care into your daily life. Everyone’s routine will look different, so start small and make sure to do things throughout your day that promote mental health and wellness in your life.

Take care of your body Go back to the basics: Drink water; eat healthy, balanced meals; aim to get eight hours of sleep each night.
Maintain or start a routine Continue to shower, get dressed, eat breakfast or whatever you need to do to make it feel like a regular morning.
Set clear boundaries Clearly tell others what you will and will not participate in and stick with that boundary. Limit time on phone and silent it at certain hours and remember to make and honor emotional boundaries too.
Be self-aware about social media Notice your experience on social media. How do you feel when you are scrolling through your feed? If it is an unwanted feeling, take a break and change how and when you’re using it.
Find enjoyable activities outside of work Set aside time to enjoy hobbies unrelated to your academic work. Find an activity that allows you to relax and slow down, like yoga, painting or journaling.
Physical activity Take a walk, dance in your apartment
Spend time with animals and nature Not everything is COVID-19. Surround yourself with things that can remind you of the peace that exists.
Celebrate the small successes Keep a journal of proud moments and remind yourself that you are working toward a goal and you are closer every day.
Create time for spiritual connection if that’s important to you This could mean tuning in for a weekly yoga class, attending an online religious service or even reflecting on the beauty of nature. Find something meaningful that feels good to your spirit and make it a practice.
Find connection It is vital to have social support. Send a text to a friend or schedule a Zoom date for a few times per week to stay connected. You are not alone.

Remember, it’s important to honor your emotions and it is okay

if you need to talk to someone.

Creating A Self-Care Plan

Creating A Self Care Plan

The Ohio State University

Office of Student Life Counseling and Consultation Service

OSU.EDU

April 15, 2020

Self-care can take many different forms, and over the past few weeks you have likely heard a lot of suggestions for ways to take care of yourself and improve your mental health and wellness during this difficult time.

There are some self-care tips that will benefit anyone’s mental and physical health, like staying hydrated, getting enough sleep and choosing healthy, nutritious food when you can, but when it comes to self-care, what works best for some might not work best for all. With this in mind, the most important thing to support your own well-being is to have a self-care plan built to meet your own specific needs.

To help you create your own personal self-care plan, we recommend breaking down your needs into categories: mental, physical and spiritual. Mental care might include reading a book for fun, learning a new skill or unplugging from social media. Physical care could mean taking a yoga class, talking a walk outside or drinking more water. Spiritual care might mean meditation, prayer or connecting with friends and family more often. The most important thing is finding the activities that will help you the most.

Consider using a worksheet like the one linked below to help brainstorm the ways you can care for and support each need. Having a visual plan will allow you to write out your goals and return to them, even as you work through difficult times.

Use the following link to download the Self-Care Plan Worksheet associated with this article.