2020 has been a challenge.
There is no other way I can describe it and I believe this sentiment can be shared across the globe.
Like some of you, my ‘normal’ work life pre-covid involved extensive travel within Ireland as well as across the globe. My roles were primarily to speak to large groups of healthcare professionals, carers and suppliers of assistive technology, train/coach clinicians on conducting and documenting the hands-on assessment as well as how to translate those clinical findings to optimal solutions and providing private individual postural assessments for individuals who present with complex postures and shape distortion and who function from a seated position.
This sense of ‘normal’ came to a screeching halt in early March. And with it, my sense of identity and purpose.
Despite each country seeming to manage COVID-19 in a slightly different way, we have all experienced the fear that comes with restrictions on how we live our personal and professional lives combined with the uncertainty of a health crisis that many of our clients are at a high risk of suffering from.
Here in Ireland, we were not permitted to travel greater than 2km from our home during phase one of the lockdown in March and April. Even when this was extended to a 5km and eventually 20km or even within our own county restriction, our rural location combined with the guidelines for social distancing at least 2 metres apart (AND the fear that my clients tend to be highly medically complex!) pretty well put a kibosh on any hands-on work and travel. A consequential necessary outcome was that everything on our calendar was cancelled with no idea as to when we could resume.
Furthermore, many of the clinicians that I would have worked with when providing training/coaching were redeployed for COVID-19 related care, and several outpatient clinical services across the country closed their doors or reduced non COVID-19 related services substantially.
With regard to the individuals I typically work with, I have a lot of concerns related to COVID-19 and lockdown. I refer here especially to the most vulnerable who were told to isolate and stay indoors. This for many has translated into spending longer periods of time lying in bed. Whilst this may seem to be a safe, comfortable place for these individuals, long periods of time in bed can lead to life threatening complications including shape distortion and pressure injuries, as well as consequences from being socially isolated with fewer resources available to address their physical and psychological needs. These thoughts keep me up at night! I feel like there is so much more I (and we!) should be doing, but simply don’t know how to go about doing so.
As a self-employed health care professional who specialises in 24-hour postural care and mobility and who works primarily with a population who falls into some of the ‘most vulnerable’ category of individuals this certainly made me stop and think – what now?
From my viewpoint, individuals who need services but who may not be perceived as essential to the mainstream decision-makers are suddenly left without their routines, without their usual carers in many instances and with a systemic fear of the unknown.
The world turned to Zoom. Honestly, I had never heard of Zoom! I had some experience with webinars of course through my years of working in the US, however I have a very hands-on clinical approach and was truly never a big fan of those webinars. That was of course because I had a choice!
Suddenly there was no choice, so I had to shift my mindset and consider how great it is that we are still able to learn and connect through web-based platforms. I spent my days registering for and engaging in webinars hosted by other clinicians, many of whom are my colleagues from around the globe, to keep myself up to date while adhering to lock-down rules. I felt incredible relief to see a familiar face on the computer screen and even if the topic was one I was very familiar with, I always felt like I was gaining knowledge and a sense of satisfaction that I was doing something useful with this time that I was so unfamiliar with having.
As someone who has spent the last 30+ years on the road, interacting with clients, clinicians, engineers, suppliers and manufacturers, and using the computer as a means to an end to prepare for in-person, interactive seminars and workshops, transitioning to working from home full-time and having to be glued to the computer screen was not a smooth journey, but with the constant hope of a return to our old normal, I prevailed!
Unfortunately, the hope of returning to normal has been fading, and it’s taken this massive lifestyle change for me to recognize just how strong my identity is associated with my work.
From sharing information that I’m passionate about and spending evenings with colleagues I see when I travel to certain cities to feeling the impact a new seating configuration can have on a client’s body and educating the caregivers and family members on the importance of respecting body shape - I’ve always had a purpose and felt as though I’ve made an impact through my work, no matter how small that might have been. And these days, I’m having a tough time holding on to that purpose, and have not been seeing the impact nearly as clearly as before.
Don’t get me wrong - I DO absolutely think we will get back to face to face meetings, seminars, and assessments. But it is really, really difficult to see the light some days when we are constantly hearing news that things are getting better only to get worse again.
To my surprise, I’ve even found myself occasionally missing airports and long drives in the car - and that is NOT something I ever would have anticipated! I’ve learnt so much about myself during these last few months, like that I prefer to choose when to socially distance myself on my own terms, as I am a very social person who also appreciates my space. When thinking about the impact that language has on our experiences, the distinction between using the term ‘social distancing’ compared to ‘physical distancing’ has been huge for me and really speaks to the importance of the power of our words. After all, ‘physical distancing’ makes so much more sense to me from the perspective of what the end goal is in protecting ourselves, and even more importantly, protecting those around us from the spread of COVID-19.
Of course, there have been some positive consequences of this pandemic. For example, I have always struggled with the balance between travel for work and time with family, but now my husband and I suddenly have a full house after almost 7 years of being ‘empty nesters’.
If you would have told any of us that we’d be living in the same house again prior to this pandemic, we would have laughed and thought there was no way! But here we are - Jenn has been living here since last year with any plans to relocate put on hold, and Charlie arrived from Los Angeles back in March and certainly expected to be on her way home by now. It’s certainly been a major adjustment for all of us to share our space, but this is honestly the most time we have ever spent with each other and there’s something incredible about that.
As time passed and the reality set in, Jenn and I decided to convert our typical in-person seminar content into web-based modules.
At first look, this seemed like a not-so-difficult task. Five months in, however, my mind has changed and really it has not been as easy as we’d initially thought.
For me, its so much easier to share information in a live forum as I truly love to demonstrate what I am talking about with both eye contact and full-body gestures. That interaction in addition to the ability to have a volunteer willing to participate as a client who needs an assessment during our in-person training days truly demonstrates the value of what we want to share about the necessity of the hands-on assessment and consequential outcomes.
As that is not possible anymore, this experience has also forced me to look with a very critical eye at our content.
Overall the blogs we have shared on our website in combination with the webinar modules we have produced has had an overall positive impact on our ability to share very valuable information across a much broader landscape.
Our lock down here in Ireland has entered phase 4, an albeit modified phase 4 and one that is constantly having to be reviewed and redefined based upon the daily status of our active cases. With this, I have been made aware of many situations where persons with disabilities of a more complex nature are still not accessing services for a multitude of reasons. I am also aware that the already lengthy wait lists for non-COVID related services are getting to the point where I fear for those with posture related challenges, as some individuals are likely not even aware of their risk for shape distortion and physiological complications. Therefore, they are not reaching out to their health care professional for advice or for assessments, AND, it seems that few of the health care professionals I typically work side by side with have fully resumed their roles in seating and postural care.
I believe that there is no reason why a person cannot have an assessment conducted for postural care, seating and mobility while adhering to all PPE guidelines related to COVID-19. There is even a possibility for some small group training while being fully respectful of and implementing Healthcare guidelines.
Alongside these possibilities, there is the option of Telehealth assessments. Though limited information can be gathered with this approach, it seems to be been working very well in many parts of the globe. From this first point of contact it can be determined if a full hands on assessment is recommended or if the necessary hands on investigation can be done by a carer or a health care professional who is at the persons place of residence and guided by a professional who specializes in 24 hour postural care and mobility.
The message I hope to get across is that there is no reason why any individual should have to be without their postural needs being addressed even if not in the traditional way.
I’d love to hear from you, fellow health care professionals, teachers, and road warriors. How have you managed to cope during these times? What strategies have worked for you to maintain your mental health? How do you see this area of practice changing in the long term? Have you had success with webinars and telehealth?
Please leave a comment below!