OT Week and The Impact of COVID-19: Hollie Jennings - Community Mental Health
The COVID-19 pandemic has affected us all in ways we couldn’t have imagined back when the first lockdown started in March. Over that last 7-8 months, we have all come together as a community to learn how to adapt and to cope with the stresses that the virus has put onto our everyday ‘normal’ lives.
As we adjust into the ‘new normal’ (again), and to mark the start of OT Week, I, along with my expert OT team at Julie Jennings and Associates, have reflected on how the Coronavirus pandemic has affected our work, and what we are doing to make sure we continue providing our vital services safely to those who need it most.
Across OT Week we will be highlighting each of the individual roles we undertake, to give a broader picture of life as an OT during the pandemic.
Hollie Jennings
Area of work: I work as part of a mental health community team
Background experience: forensic and inpatient services, crisis and the s136 suites.
Impact of COVID-19 on working practice or your personal perspective
At the start of the pandemic I worked on the inpatient wards and found clinical practice turned from enabling and prompting independence. This included daily living and community access, supporting individuals with basic functional tasks (those who became unwell due to transmission of the virus) and education around occupations within the ‘home’ environment to manage mood and frustrations with the lockdown.
I then moved into a community team, which has predominantly focused on offering telephone support, guidance and goal setting. More recently we have begun face-to-face sessions however, we have had to devise thorough risk assessments to manage safety and minimise close contact within these sessions. Again occupations within the home and self-management techniques for mood and anxiety have been imperative, as many community services have closed or turned to online sessions, which not all my clients can access.
Since moving into the community team it has become apparent that the pandemic has led to more individuals needing support and has allowed individuals to maintain their current avoidant behaviours. I often support people with social anxieties who struggle to leave the house for example.
Your OT perspective and what you can do to positive influence challenges imposed by the pandemic
I have devoted time to the development of a training package to support individuals to increase awareness of their behaviours and coping strategies and how to develop and maintain positive management techniques. This includes encouraging people to begin talking more openly about their mental health and contributing towards challenging the stigma it is often associated with.
Occupational Therapists are dual trained and can assess and explore both the physical and mental health needs of individuals. I believe this to be essential moving forward as we begin to understand the effects of ‘Long COVID-19’, the need for rehabilitation and reablement and the impact economic changes and social isolation begins to have on society.
Your commitments to support the recovery of People that have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic
Should face-to-face support become difficult once again, I will attempt to creatively deliver sessions using video/ phone calls and online platforms such as Microsoft Teams.
I will follow the evidence and research, which is constantly evolving, to increase my understanding of the long-term impact of the virus and ensure this can be properly assessed and up-to-date guidance is offered.
I will continue to develop training and information for those in need, to help support the maintenance of our overall and health and well-being.