We’ve created a new section on the LeadingAge MN COVID-19 website that provides coping, self-care, and stress relief resources for staff. We will continue to add new tools in the coming months.

Consider providing these resources to your team via your intranet, newsletter, or other communications, along with a reminder about LeadingAge Minnesota’s COVID-19 Staff Coping & Support Hotline. This valuable resource has been extended into at least November and is free to all staff (direct care, managers, executives). To access, call 612-455-8656 or send an email to covidsupport@acp-mn.com.

On Oct. 12 from 1:30 – 2:30 pm, a free webinar is being offered for all members and their staff. “COVID-19 Coping Room–Building Your Own Resilience Road,” features Dr. VanAhn, the psychologist who leads the COVID-19 Staff Coping & Support Hotline through the LeadingAge Minnesota Foundation. To register for the webinar, click here.

Here are the other resources currently available to support you and your staff during this ongoing pandemic:

• A tool designed specifically for direct care staff, Minnesota Healthcare Heroes: Self Care for Senior Workers During COVID-19 from the National Alliance on Mental Illness Minnesota (NAMI-MN), is now available on our LeadingAge MN Covid-19 webpage for easy staff access. It uses brief audio clips to cover 12 lessons in self-care and coping during COVID-19. For more details, see this flyer.

• MDH has developed a Mental Health and Resiliency Tools for Health Care Workers: COVID-19 toolkit that has handouts, posters, and leadership tips to manage staff anxieties. Click here for an overview.

• Healthcare Workers Guide for Coping with Stress and Compassion Fatigue is a 6-page toolkit from the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Association (SAMHSA) agency that is supporting our COVID-19 Staffing Coping & Support Hotline.

• A one-page flyer called Ideas to Support Employee Mental Well-being during the Pandemic created by LeadingAge national.