Behavioral Health Care during COVID-19

In the coming weeks, community care needs will escalate exponentially as COVID-19 impacts continue to increase. Here are some ways you or your team can prepare: 

Creating a Trajectory Map
Use the Phases of Disaster as a starting place, and begin to draft a trajectory map for your organization or community. You can share your maps on twitter, facebook, instagram, or linked in, using hashtag #carerestores. 

As you're creating your map, consider the differences your organization or community are experiencing compared with traditional understandings of episodic or singular incident disasters. For example, many groups are finding their sense of the initial "hero" stage has been a far sharper incline or spike, as leaders and volunteers have rushed in this last week to solve as much as they can and now, even within just a week or two, are experiencing significant senses of fatigue. The fatigue appears to be related to a combination of the strong push to help along with the remarkable speed at which new information is released, often changing and becoming out-dated even hour by hour. 

Continue to use your map as a draft or living document with your team, a template that you can update over the coming weeks and months. 

Recognize the Range of Impact
Over the next several weeks and months, your clients, patients, or community members, will experience a range of impacts. Some of these will be directly COVID-19 related. For example:

• How will you or your team provide care to individuals who may be suffering or dying alone, unable to receive visitors? Will you provide them with phone calls, cards, or deliveries? 
• How will you or your team provide care to family members of those individuals, who are unable able to be with their loved ones as they suffer or die alone? 
• How will you encourage acts of memorial in times of physical distancing? 
• How are you or your team providing care to first responders, medical personnel, behavioral health personal, and emergency responders who are a part of your congregation or ministry group? 

Some of the impacts will be indirectly related to COVID-19. For example:

• How are you or your team providing care to clients, patients, or community members who are experiencing significant loss of income, loss of jobs, inability to access food, or inability to access medical care deemed non-urgent or unrelated to COVID-19? 
• How are you or your team providing care to clients, patients, or community members who are experiencing increased senses of grief, bereavement, anxiety, depression, or exacerbated symptoms related to pre-existing mental health challenges? 

Pacing Care for Sustainability
As you consider what needs already are present and what may be coming, in what ways can you and your staff pace and nourish yourselves now so that you can avoid burnout and provide sustainable care through the long-term? 

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Here are some helpful resources for understanding trauma, pacing, and sustaining long-term care: 

• An example of a community collaboration effort for identifying emerging needs and making referrals
• Free ICTG resources (These network inventories are something proactive and concrete you can do today):
  • Personal Care Network Inventory
  • Professional Care Network Inventory
• An in-depth training manual

Further Reading:

• How Long Term Response to Pandemic Differs from Other Types of Disaster Response
• Metabolizing Adversity
• What Kind of Person are You in an Emergency?
• Preparing and Responding to Pandemic Virus​

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​Looking for ways to help? 

As more in our communities move to working remotely and practicing social distancing, our online resources are increasingly important for many. You can support these free, online resources by signing up to volunteer with ICTG, or by giving today.

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​Rev. Dr. Kate Wiebe serves as the Executive Director of ICTG. She is an organizational health consultant and pastoral psychotherapist. She lives with her family in Santa Barbara, CA.