What is Psychosocial Health?
Psychosocial health encompasses the mental, emotional, social, and spiritual dimensions of what it means to be healthy. The extreme stress, uncertainty, and often difficult medical nature of global infectious disease outbreaks, such as Coronavirus (COVID-19), require special attention to not only our physical health but our psychosocial health as well. The uncertainty of this season in our lives, may lead to significant and understandable emotional distress, even among those who have not been, and don’t know if they will be, directly exposed to the disease. This newsletter is to gain a better understanding of what psychosocial health entails and how to take it into consideration when interacting with our teams, our patients, our families and our community.
How Psychosocial Health Impacts Healthcare Workers
For healthcare workers, feeling under pressure is a likely experience for you and many of your colleagues. It is quite normal to be feeling this way in the current situation. Stress and the feelings associated with it are by no means a reflection that you cannot do your job or that you are weak. Managing your mental health and psychosocial well-being during this time is as important as managing your physical health. Taking care of yourself and encouraging others to practice self-care sustains our ability as healthcare workers to care for those in need. Whether you are on the frontlines of this pandemic or are working from home, it is important to have an understanding of what psychosocial needs are and how they impact us all. We are often instructed, when flying, to put the oxygen mask on ourselves first, to be able to take care of others around us. Take a look at the tips below, including a free meditation app for certified healthcare workers, and let us get started on the journey of taking our own psychosocial needs into consideration so we can better help those relying on us.
Created for you by Human Resources and Wellness Services
