5 Integrative Health Approaches to COVID-19 By Emily Pedersen MPH, M.Ed.
5 Integrative Health Approaches to COVID-19
By Emily Pedersen MPH, M.Ed.
5 Integrative Health Approaches to COVID-19
to Promote Physical, Mental and Psychosocial Wellbeing
On January 30th, the World Health Organization declared the 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC). Countries around the world have aimed to slow and stop transmission, prevent and delay outbreaks and minimize the impact of the epidemic on health systems.
Taking an integrative approach to COVID-19 preparedness and response may not only minimize the impact on physical health, but also promote mental health and psychosocial wellness. Research has shown that less than twenty percent of health and longevity is attributable to medical care while the other eighty percent is determined by factors largely outside of conventional medicine, including social, environmental, and behavioral determinants.
Adopting an integrative approach to COVID-19 prevention presents an opportunity to incorporate other appropriate mental, emotional, functional, spiritual, social, and community aspects to promote overall individual and community wellbeing.
1. Preserve Mental Health While Staying Informed
Repeated exposure to turmoil in the media can negatively impact both physical and mental health. Continuous media consumption may also distract from participating in other healthy activities like engaging with loved ones, exercising, enjoying hobbies, reading, and practicing mindfulness or spiritual activities.
Pay attention to how often you access different types of media and how you feel afterwards. Although a near-constant stream of news coverage of COVID-19 is available, it can be helpful to minimize watching, reading or listening to media that causes stress or anxiety.
Stay informed about COVID-19 by seeking updates and practical prevention measures at specific times during the day. Plan times into your day when you will catch up on the news. During those windows, focus on gathering information from reliable sources like health professionals, local public health authorities, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization.
2. Stay Socially Connected During Physical Distancing
Currently, there are no vaccines or specific pharmaceutical treatments available for COVID-19. Although clinical trials are underway, a viable vaccine could take 12 to 18 months. In the interim, the best way to prevent contracting the virus is to avoid being exposed altogether by adhering to public health guidelines, including social distancing.
To effectively practice social distancing, maintain six feet between you and other people in public spaces, avoid social gatherings and limit nonessential travel. If you can, it is also helpful to work from home, avoid shaking hands and touching public surfaces, and wash your hands with soap when you go inside.
Although social distancing is required to slow the spread of the virus, research has shown that a lack of social connectedness is greatly detrimental to mental and physical wellbeing. Technology, like video conferencing, social media and e-mail, can help fight loneliness and build social solidarity while promoting public health.
When practicing social distancing, find ways to nurture positive and supportive relationships. Consider joining an online community, calling an old friend, engaging with co-workers through video conferencing, participating in a virtual dance party or exercise class, or even enrolling in an online course.
3. Share Practical, Preventative Actions to Dismantle Social Stigma
Nonpharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) are simple, everyday preventative actions that help slow the spread of illness during an infectious disease outbreak, such as COVID-19. Everyday preventative actions may occur on a community level, like social distancing and school closures, on an environmental level, like routine surface cleaning, or on a personal level, like covering coughs, proper handwashing, and staying home when you are sick.
Despite public health education efforts, the COVID-19 outbreak has resulted in social stigma against people of certain ethnicities as well as towards people who are suspected to have been in contact with the virus. During an infectious disease outbreak, stigma has been shown to hamper response.
When social stigma is present during an outbreak, infected people may hide symptoms of illness or even delay seeking treatment in order to avoid discrimination. Stigma may also prevent healthy individuals from practicing infection-prevention behaviors.
While emphasizing the effectiveness of everyday preventative actions can help reduce stigma and fear around communicable diseases, proliferating negative messages has been shown to limit community response. To help combat stigma around COVID-19, consider showing empathy with those affected and sharing practical measures to help people keep themselves and their loved ones safe.
4. Practice Self-Compassion While Developing New Routines
As daily life changes in response to COVID-19, many people are having to adjust how they do everyday things, from conducting business to shopping for groceries. Maintaining familiar routines as much as possible or developing new routines can help mitigate stress, prioritize self-care, cultivate healthy habits, and cope with change.
Consider how you can incorporate the five interconnected dimensions of wellness into your routine to reduce boredom, help avoid stress-related immune system suppression and promote overall wellbeing:
· Physical Wellness- Optimize physical health by following a sleep-wake schedule, prioritizing healthy nutrition and engaging in regular exercise.
· Social Wellness- Foster a sense of connection and belonging by staying in regular contact with loved ones, checking on neighbors and participating in virtual social groups or activities.
· Emotional Wellness- Express feelings and manage stress effectively by reframing negative thoughts, playing with pets, or engaging in activities that you find relaxing.
· Spiritual Wellness- Appreciate what is meaningful to you by meditating, expressing gratitude, practicing yoga or religion, appreciating music or art, or spending time in nature.
· Intellectual Wellness- Learn about what interests you by reading, learning a new language, listening to podcasts, watching documentaries, playing games or solving puzzles.
Although cultivating a daily routine can be helpful, it is important to do so with self-compassion. Give yourself permission to make mistakes while adjusting to the ever-changing COVID-19 landscape. This is a unique and unprecedented time during which you should prioritize whatever allows you the mental and emotional space to feel your best.
When people practice self-compassion, they also experience greater social connectedness, happiness and overall psychological wellbeing. It can be helpful to remember that you and your loved ones are not alone in facing this challenging time. Public health experts around the world are working to ensure the best care for those affected, and by practicing preventative actions, you are giving doctors, nurses and hospitals a chance at improving quality of care.
5. Help Others and Know When to Seek Help For Yourself
Assisting others in their time of need can help reduce stress, improve self-esteem and benefit physical health. Helping others often benefits the helper as much as the person receiving the support.
Over the next few weeks, consider checking-in by phone with neighbors or people in your community who may be at greater risk of experiencing serious complications from COVID-19, for example older adults and those with underlying medical conditions like heart disease, diabetes and lung disease. Volunteering to do simple tasks, like grocery shopping, can go a long way for those who may be quarantined.
Students who relied on free or subsidized lunches, low-wage and service industry workers facing unemployment, and food banks limited by volunteer and canned-food shortages, are also in need of support. Donating to organizations offering assistance to those in need is another way to help and build social solidarity during COVID-19.
Managing your mental health and psychosocial wellbeing during this time is as important as managing your physical health. Avoid using tobacco, alcohol or other drugs which can worsen your mental and physical wellbeing. Pay attention to emotional patterns and any unexplainable or uncontrollable feelings of sadness or withdrawal. Remember that seeking help early from a mental health professional can make a big difference.
Emily Pedersen is the Director of Clinical Development for Neuro Wellness Spa. She holds a Master’s degree in Education and a Master of Public Health degree with a certificate in health inequities from Johns Hopkins University. As a former educator with a strong professional background in public health research, Emily finds nothing more rewarding than improving quality and access to services, particularly for those in need of mental health care.