Even though I have a health science background, this article is written with my mother in mind. None of us family want her to get anything like Coronavirus because she could die from it. She’s not the only one we’re concerned about. Any of us know several people in our direct orbit who may have a dire reaction to this illness that most of us won’t have.
With my mother in mind, these are some considerations we’d be thinking of:
· Get set up with a video calling service like Skype or Zoom so non-physical contact can be made and maintained, and plan to have several backups – phones, email, messaging, etc
· Think about what vital supplies might be needed and develop a plan for accessing them. It’s not just about toilet paper. Think of all the other things we take for granted. Make a list
· Think about safe delivery of things that need to come into their home, including groceries, medications, etc
· Arrange three or four sources of support if that’s available, and ensure there’s a good proactive communication between support parties — especially around not carrying sickness and necessary infection control
· If very little support is available, being that you’re not close by, reach out to a local church or not-for-profit and see what they can do – now is the time to plan
· Arrange a procedure for safely getting them to medical appointments and keeping them safe whilst there (though medical practices will have their procedures) and getting them safely home
· Remember that facemasks (personal protective equipment) are the last line of defence. Better disease control occurs first through eliminating risk, then separation from the risk, then barriers to the risk, then procedures... lastly PPE. Although they may be all we can do, facemasks alone are not always enough as a risk mitigation measure
· Early intervention for our most vulnerable loved ones is key. Otherwise healthy people shouldn’t clog up the medical system but the vulnerable should go and be assessed at the earliest onset of symptoms
· Even when seemingly healthy people visit there is no guarantee viruses won’t be transmitted – extra vigilance is required
· Obviously minimise physical contact unless you know you’re perfectly well and germ-free, i.e. take special care. At the end of the day, it’s hard to ask loved ones to go without hugs, kisses and physical contact. Perhaps it’s a challenge to find other safe intimacies – eye contact is powerful
· Getting access to the best information and weeding out unhelpful sources from social media
· Where we’re direct carers of our vulnerable family members, fear of getting ill ourselves is reasonable because it’s based in love. We must do all we can do and accept that we’ve done the best we could
· More points to come...
For those who don’t know me, my first degree is a Bachelor of Science from the School of Public Health at Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia. I worked in the occupational health field for over 15 years and as an accredited practitioner was a Fellow of the Safety Institute of Australia (FSIA) until I became a pastor in 2013.
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