Resilience Tip: Yourself as Medicine

Posted on April 7, 2021 by LeadingAge

Featuring Dr. Alyson VanAhn from Associated Clinic of Psychology

In senior care communities, there are a lot of medications passed in the hopes of improving or maintaining the health of residents. What’s often overlooked is all the care that you provide—for residents, colleagues and your own families—is essential medicine, too.

You listen, you show up, you provide warm greetings and validation. You deliver medication in pill form or alert nurses that it’s time to do that, but do you realize that you’re providing medicine as well?

It's possible to be very good at delivering this type of healing “medicine” to others and struggling to do this for ourselves. For this week, don’t discount your value in improving the lives of others. Also, try to use your own best medicine on yourself. It can go a long way.

• Notice which residents, staff or family members are most comfortable and calm with you. Congratulate yourself and keep this medicine coming for them. It may just fill you up as well.
• Where do you feel most calm and comfortable right now? Go to those places, talk to those people that provide “medicine” for you.
• How long has it been since you had a break – large or small? It’s not possible to remain helpful to others when you are too depleted yourself. Use the five-second breath, stretching, pausing or other techniques we’ve discussed in previous resilience tips to get a mini break to start…and plan for a larger one or an event to look forward to during your time off.
• Humor and kindness go a long way to provide stress relief and the “medicine” we all need as we continue on the long haul the COVID pandemic presents. Take a look at some funny quotes, kind appreciations and post them for yourselves and others to have as constant reminders of the medicine you’re providing.

For more information about stress relief during COVID-19, go to www.leadingagemncoaching.com.

At no charge, you can arrange virtual staff support groups through LeadingAge Minnesota Foundation’s COVID-19 Staff Coping & Support Line project. Contact Terri Foley at tfoley@leadingagemn.org or 651-815-8137