Category: Daily Dose

In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, communities across the country have discovered a powerful resource that has stepped forward to make a difference: America’s teenagers. They have delivered groceries to older adults, offered online tutoring, emailed sick children, helped feed the hungry. And then there are those like 15-year-old Valerie Xu, who raised money to buy masks to donate to a Dallas hospital and homeless shelter. “People have a good heart and are willing to help, and are willing to contribute to our society,” Xu said.

Learn more about the work of Valerie and countless other teens around the country and world at APNews.com.

From the Society for Behavioral Sleep Medicine, an article for the nurses, doctors, other healthcare workers, logistics personnel, and all of the others who have been on the front line of COVID-19 these last many months. This is a reminder that the road to wellness starts with good sleep. Their article covers the importance of sleep, how to protect your sleep time, encouraging sleep in those around you, and what to do when you cannot sleep. The main take-aways are as follows:

1. Remember that sleep can be a powerful ally in promoting your own health, immune function, and cognitive abilities.
2. Get sleep when you can. Even brief naps may help, especially in the short term.
3. Protect your sleep with eye masks, ear plugs, white noise, darkness, and other environmental safeguards.
4. Protect the sleep of others, to promote their health and well-being.
5. Avoid spending excessive amounts of time laying in bed trying to sleep. Get up.
6. Employ countermeasures to maintain wakefulness and alertness, including structural supports.

Read the full article at https://behavioralsleep.org/index.php/society-of-behavioral-sleep-medicine-blog/sleep-blog

Throughout the pandemic, many of us have turned to a variety of distractions to help ease emotional suffering and, for those who contracted COVID-19, physical suffering. Some have found comfort in streaming new shows and movies, others have reinvested in exercise, while others have turned to baking and other comfort foods. But when Geoff Woolf became gravely ill and hospitalized with the virus his sons, Nicky and Sam, remembered something their father had told them some time ago, that “if he was in hospital for a long time, he would be able to deal if he had a book.” To that end, they loaded an e-reader with Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice” — “his comfort read,” according to Sam — and played it for their unconscious father.

In late July, after many months and nearly succumbing to COVID several times, Geoff was discharged from Whittington Hospital, workers applauding as he was wheeled out of the ward en route to a specialized neurological hospital where his recovery continues. Out of this experience was born a larger project, Books for Dad.

Mr. Woolf’s sons recruited volunteers who loaded e-readers, donated by Audible, with a variety of content and delivered them, disinfected, with single use headphones, and individually bagged, to the hospital treating their father. They were soon were distributing dozens more to other hospitals around the U.K. and, from this, Books for Dad has kept growing with the intent to distribute 5,000 e-readers to British hospitals over the next six months and add books for children and young adults to their content.

Read more about the Woolf family and Books for Dad at APNews.com or visit the Books for Dad website to learn more

Beirut continues to recover from the recent port blast that killed at 178 and injured thousands more. Already taxed hospitals caring for those victims now face a rise in coronavirus cases. And yet, in the midst of such incredible challenge, the people of Beirut remain resilient and signs of this were seen everywhere starting immediately after the explosion and continuing to today. Large crowds of citizens were immediately in the streets with brooms and shovels to begin the clean-up. Engineers volunteering their own time to try to make safe the many damaged buildings. On social media, the story and images of a nurse, surrounded by shattered glass and blood, caring for three newborns and attending to the rest of her duties in the aftermath of the blast, has been widely circulated. More broadly, the citizens have begun to organize, to channel very strong emotions, to address the longer standing issues that led to this tragedy and in doing so are becoming power agents of governmental change.

For today’s Daily Dose, we encourage anyone in need of inspiration to look to the people of Beirut. Even when weary, their resiliency shines through. Anyone who wishes to support relief efforts might consider donations to the Lebanese Red Cross or United Nations’ World Food Program.

Six-year-old Amiyah Dantzler-Clay and her 5-year-old brother Jayden saw Police Maj. Richard Gibson parked in front of their Baltimore home and figured he could use a treat. So they took him an ice pop. While Maj. Gibson was in the children’s neighborhood that day scouting for ways to help improve the area for residents, two days after a homicide outside a vacant house, he was instead the beneficiary of the kids’ thoughtful gesture of a nice, refreshing, icy, grape-flavored ice treat. The officer was so moved that a couple of days later he returned to their home with a gift: a box full of their favorite frozen pops. The visit was a fun surprise for Amiyah and Jayden, who like other children have been isolated from friends and classmates during the coronavirus pandemic. Read more about this story at APNews.com.

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to have profound personal, public health and economic consequences worldwide. Since its onset, health care providers have worked tirelessly to treat adults and children facing this complex condition, and are consequently at increased risk for acute and long-term mental health conditions. Starting in late March, 2020, the Department of Psychiatry, University of Colorado School of Medicine, has launched COVID-19 related wellness programs for health care workers and staff across disciplines and medical settings. The services are designed to support colleagues in health care, promote their physical, emotional and relational well-being, and reduce their risk for adverse mental health issues. These programs include Team Support Sessions, COVID-19 Support Groups, a Well-Being Support Line, Faculty and Staff Mental Health Services, an eight-session series on coping during and after COVID-19, a series entitled Mind the Brain: Mental Health in the Time of COVID-19, website programming, and much more. Learn about their efforts and success on the Division 38 Website.