How should I care for the mental, emotional, and spiritual needs of my community or organization during a COVID19 (Coronavirus Disease 2019) outbreak?

If your organization is not yet preparing for ways to participate in both social distancing and encouraging connection among your community this month and in the months to come, please consider options. You can make a great difference in helping to reduce the spread of illness while also encouraging mental, emotional, and spiritual health in trying times.

​Here are several important things to keep in mind:
  • For your organization, assign a person or team (if they are not already assigned) to keep up-to-speed on rapidly changing information
  • Provide an easy means for that person or team to regularly update staff or your organization's membership or constituents as critical information comes to light
  • Be careful to only share updates that are essential, rather than contributing to anxiety or hype
  • If your organization is a school, behavioral health, or spiritual care organization, consider the ways you can provide and model daily acts of calm, routine, and healthy practices​​
  • Consider organizational options that provide both social distancing and ways of staying connected as a community. Social support is one of the primary coping strategies for managing mental health. People who have families, friends, clubs, schools, or congregations with whom they feel a sense of belonging experience reduced symptoms and are able to metabolize adversity far better than those who do not.

What ICTG resources can I use?


See the below resources for practical, actionable steps you can take.

BLOG POSTS:

  • Metabolizing Adversity
    ​"How best can you develop daily habits that help you metabolize adversity you experience?"
    ​READ FULL POST >>
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  • Why Communities Need More than Only Talk Therapy to Heal from Disaster
    ​"Cultivating good relationships within communities as a form of antibody against potential traumatic impacts from disaster. If you have good relationships they actually help you assimilate that experience."
    ​READ FULL POST >>

  • The Essence of Your Leadership is Contagious: What Kind of Person are You in an Emergency?
    "You can have all the flip charts, exit strategies, and "stop, drop, & roll" mantras you want, but if you are prone to freezing, dissociating, or freaking out, you (and your group) won't be able to follow your well-laid plans and procedures. While it is important for everyone to consider the type of person they hope to be in an emergency, it is especially key for leaders of schools, businesses, nonprofits, and congregations to consider."
    READ FULL POST >>

  • Preparing and Responding to Pandemic Virus
    "You may need to consider how your organization exercises its mission, especially whether you provide services, education, worship, or other forms of connection to your members or constituents." 
    READ FULL POST >>

  • How Long Term Recovery is Very Different from Other Stressors in Your Life
    "Though doing so may feel counter intuitive, we have found that one of the most essential practices for becoming restored after disaster is to begin to implement nourishing routines, even if only in very little ways, as soon as possible. Without forcing or rushing, but rather incorporating them a step at a time sooner than later. Here are some of the tips that we encourage our leaders to consider resuming, even within the first days after disaster..."
    READ FULL POST >>

  • What’s Working For Me Right Now - Part 1
    "So I hope by sharing with you some of what is not only working for us now, but has been working consistently for a long time, that you may find some easier ways to create a new rhythm in your house. That you will be able to adjust relatively quickly instead of stumbling in the dark for years like we did."
    ​READ FULL POST >>

  • Behavioral Health Care during COVID-19
    "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.." 
    ​    READ FULL POST >>

  • How Long Term Response to Pandemic Differs from Other Types of Disaster Response​
    "One of the most challenging aspects to accept when responding to a disaster is how long term recovery differs from other forms of stress. Unfortunately, response to a pandemic also significantly differs from other forms of long term recovery, let alone other forms of stress."
    ​READ FULL POST >>

  • The Importance of Knowing How Varying Types of Cultures Emerge during Pandemic​
    "Even just in that brief, and hardly exhaustive list, you can see the stark differences made clear. For some, this season is a major inconvenience worth laughing about – genuinely. For others, within their lifetime they have never before experienced such continuous and overwhelming levels of trauma day after day..."
    READ FULL POST >> 

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COVID19 NEWSLETTER ARCHIVE:
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Information Sources

Daily Situation Reports:
John Hopkins: Center for Health Security  here >>
WHO Advice for the Public:
Materials regularly updated based on new scientific findings as the epidemic evolves. View them  here >>
CDC Guidance and FAQs:
Resources and information  here >>

Coping Resources

Psychiatry Guide to Mental Health Resources for COVID-19:
Living resource guide document by MGH  here >>

National Resources for Faith leaders:
Considering Faith, Community, and Mental Health by HHS here >>

Mapping Sites

  • United States and Global Map, from John Hopkins Medicine  here >>
  • United States Map, from ​The New York Times here >>
  • Global Map, from The New York Times  here >>
  • Global Map, from Google  here >>

Ways to Help

  • How Individuals and Organizations Can Help, from FEMA  here >>
  • Nonprofit Donations & Volunteer Sign-ups, from The Washington Post  here >>
  • Donating Blood, from The Red Cross  here >>
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