Megan Hammes/liveWELL: Personal and family health and safety were the top concerns for UI faculty and staff when surveyed in April 2020 regarding their remote work during the pandemic. With so many unknowns, what are the best ways to stay safe and healthy – whether continuing to work on campus, returning from remote work, or sending children back to school? 

Daniel Fick, MD, Clinical Professor, Interim Chair & DEO, Department of Family Medicine I Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine and Campus Health Officer: The best way to stay safe and healthy is to follow the simple guidelines from our own public health and healthcare experts. Self-monitor and do not come to work if you are sick or have a fever, cough, or sore throat. Wear your mask to help protect your co-workers and your face-shield if required. Practice social distancing and follow prescribed hand hygiene practices. If we all follow these simple guidelines, we can greatly mitigate the spread of COVID-19 and keep our staff, students,  and faculty healthy. 

liveWELL: Bev, you have led wellness forums, group meditations, and have transitioned much of your mindfulness-based programming to virtual practice. For people 
who have established  a mindfulness or meditative practice prior to COVID-19 or who have adopted one during the pandemic, what encouragement do you have to either stick with it  or continue into a deeper learning of the practice? 

Bev Klug, MA, LMFT, Director of Mindfulness Programs, UI Behavioral Health/Department of Psychiatry: Practice as if for the first time, every time–beginner’s mind! Sometimes an established practice, like many things, can become so routine that we’re not present in it. If that’s becoming the case for you, be aware and notice the experience of this. You might also revisit a practice that you haven’t done for a while or weren’t so drawn to when you learned it. Do this not for entertainment or gratification but to wake up to your experience. Remember that formal practices support us in being mindful in daily living including the most difficult and challenging, the very pleasant and easy, and everything between. This is our life, and mindfulness helps us to not miss it even during a pandemic. Re-visit your intentions for why you practice, and return to them throughout the day.

liveWELL: Bev, for people who are curious about mindfulness, but they don’t know where to begin, what do you suggest?

Bev Klug: Everything changes all the time in small and large ways–it’s the nature of life. Most have adapted to the initial, immediate threat of COVID-19 and have settled into some new routines of living, but we are in a state of chronic stress. This is a VERY important time 
to integrate mindfulness into our daily lives whether you are new to it or have practiced for years. 
Mindfulness is being intentionally aware of  what we are experiencing as it’s happening, whether we like it or not. This present-focused awareness coupled with attitudes 
we practice in relating to what’s here, supports us in responding more skillfully as life unfolds. We often aren’t present–we’re either jumping ahead to what we think might or should happen next, resisting what is happening, lost 
in re-hashing things from the past or on auto-pilot going through the motions of living but not aware of what we’re experiencing. One of the great things about mindfulness is that it’s natural and we already have it (note the present awareness of infants 
and young children). Intentionally fostering it is accessible whether you’ve had extensive training or are beginning as you read this now. One of the values of extensive training is it helps us integrate mindfulness into daily living consistently, replacing old habits  
more frequently.

liveWELL: It is still summertime, but with students returning to campus soon for school and work, how can employees’ model good well-being for our students?

Barry Schreier, Ph.D., Director, University Counseling Service, Division of Student Life:  When we are helping students with the struggles they often manage, we are helping with something happening to THEM. In current times, it is different. We are now helping students with something that is happening to them and US which makes helping more challenging. Here are tips to assist you with “helping within and between,” meaning tips you can use for self-care and for your care of others:
No more than 30 minutes a day of news and social media about the news. If you cannot learn it in less than 30 minutes, it is not worth knowing that day. Assert control where you can as so much of what is happening is out of our control. Asserting control where we can  
(i.e. clean your room, engage in exercise)  provides us feelings of control when so much around us feels out of control.

Hold a frame of grief to understand your many feelings. We are all having repeated losses and disappointments which cause a myriad of emotions. One day you feel fine and the next you don’t. Holding a frame of grief provides a good, reasonable, and containing way to make sense of feelings. Mobilize your privilege in whatever ways you have privilege to help others. Donate time to making PPE supplies, write supportive messages on social media, give money to charity, send treats to hospital nurses, call friends or family who may be isolated, or send an email to a colleague to truly find out “How are you?” Take social justice actions to dismantle systems oppressive to those with minoritized identities.

liveWELL: Melanie, you lead the University’s Diabetes Prevention Program courses for University employees. As such, you’ve seen participants make a lot of positive progress on health goals during the COVID-19 pandemic. Can you share with us their main strategies for success and also how they overcame barriers?

Melanie Cuchna,  MPH, CHES, Well-Being Specialist, UI Wellness, University Human Resources: Long-term lifestyle change requires commitment, and it can be challenging at times. Add a global pandemic on top of that, and you  have a whole new layer of challenges to work through. Tweaking goals, brainstorming solutions, and practicing positivity have helped participants in the Diabetes Prevention Program overcome barriers and continue to make progress towards their goals. They have shown tremendous resilience, and I’m so impressed by their dedication and commitment to the group. There are four strategies I’ve witnessed them use before and during the pandemic that have contributed to their success. These can be used to overcome any adversity when making lifestyle changes. 

Set small, specific, and realistic goals. Every week participants write down one to two small action plans to work on that contribute to their larger goals for the program. Writing these out and sharing these with the group helps create accountability.
Track your progress. Participants have been working hard on tracking their nutrition, physical activity minutes, and progress on their goals. When they review what they’ve logged for the week, it is easier for them to identify daily habits that help make them successful.
Celebrate your wins. An important part of this group is highlighting the positives and things that went well. No win is too small. I always enjoy hearing about their other victories the most–the ones that don’t reflect a number on a scale. These victories represent changes in habits, energy, and feeling better.
Support others. Participants do such a wonderful job supporting each other by discussing challenges, sharing ideas, and offering encouragement. This is the glue that holds the group together and keeps everyone moving forward.

liveWELL: We have employees reading this who are grieving the loss of a loved one or who have a co-worker who lost a loved one during Covid-19. We are unable to physically come together to show support, give hugs or condolences in person. First, what can you offer to those who are grieving? Second, how can we support co-workers, friends, or neighbors who may be grieving?

Bronwyn Threlkeld- Wiegand, LISW, UI Employee Assistance Program: Losing anyone is hard enough, let alone during a public health crisis that has literally removed the ability to reach out and touch someone. Talking about our loss with anyone including a counselor such as EAP will help; but witnessing the loss for others must still happen.  We have to acknowledge that in addition to the collective grief we feel for how our own lives have changed, the earth has stopped moving for those people who have lost a loved one. We must recognize the loss that person is experiencing in writing, a text, email or a phone call. Never assume you know how they are feeling, but know that you can always say I am so sorry for your loss.

This article originally appeared in the Summer 2020 liveWELL newsletter.