Peace and Comfort
Reflections on life and health during the COVID-19 pandemic
This blog was to have been about Collaborative Health, a construct that we use at Carium to define the components of care delivery that we have helped our clinical partners realize on their path to digital transformation. But at this moment, I just can’t. To be sure, the COVID-19 crisis has sent nearly everyone hurtling headlong into a world where digital-forward, remote models of care delivery are suddenly a core competency. As I ponder this moment in healthcare, though, I can’t write a word without considering how uncertain everything has become in our industry, our lives, and our world. So, the blog about care transformation can wait. Instead, I feel called to share something else that perhaps we can all use — some words and reflections on things that bring me peace and comfort in these unsettling times. And an invitation for you to share your own.
I am grateful for all the heroes: first responders, healthcare workers, and scientists who are helping us fight this fearsome foe that is the coronavirus despite great personal risk. We should also be thankful for the everyday heroes who provide the essential services that keep our society functioning. And for so many who have stepped up to donate, create, and deliver personal protective equipment for front line workers. There is heroism also in all the individuals who are honoring the shelter in place recommendations that will help us flatten the curve.
This pandemic and its human toll (and projections) have created a sense of almost apocalyptic global dread, which has been juxtaposed with the strange calm of sheltering in place with our families. Discarding “nonessential” worries, tasks, and priorities from our personal and professional lives has provided its own sense of peace. We are mostly just focusing on what really matters, which has prompted the realization that much of what previously got our attention was actually just extraneous distraction. May we all maintain the ability to focus and prioritize when we are again gifted a world with unlimited choices.
There is comfort in watching the rapid transformation of so many key areas of our society — workplaces, education, and yes, healthcare. It has been inspiring to see students and teachers, doctors and patients, friends and family all wrestle with and eventually figure out how to connect remotely and find a way forward. It’s new for me to have a recent college grad, college student, and high school student as co-workers. It’s a whole different kind of recess and water cooler experience for all of us. Our Carium team has always worked well remotely, so that wasn’t new for us. Even so, this moment has brought us closer — last week we enjoyed sharing photos of our workspaces and art that inspires us (here was mine).
I find tremendous peace in the overriding sense of kindness, collaboration, and community spirit that has infused our society. Forget about the occasional divisive comment or tweet — those can’t overwhelm the many daily moments that remind us that we are all in this together. Despite so many being impacted so profoundly, we have leaned into a positive, helpful, communal response. Humans connecting with and helping humans is a silver lining, and a source of some good news during tough times.
Necessity and adversity are the mother and father of innovation. It has been reassuring to watch how agile and inventive people and organizations have been in response to this sudden and continuously morphing crisis. There is no script for this. I’ve found it fascinating to see how quickly “good enough” has become good enough. In society and in healthcare, this has taken many forms — the rapid shift to telehealth and remote care is a great example. Not being able to safely see all patients in person has created a new exigency that transcends payment models, ROI, operational challenges, and “competing demands.” We’ve seen some remarkable examples of leadership in response. I also look forward to how this moment will shape our “new normal.” In just about every conversation I’ve had, this phrase comes up. Nobody thinks we are going all the way back to how things “used to be.” It will be interesting to watch.
Social connections are a comfort, so even while distancing physically for safety, everyone has gotten creative and realized the need for human interaction. I’ve enjoyed virtual happy hours and impromptu facetime connections with friends, while family members and friends have shared about their remote book clubs, virtual dance parties, and online concerts. We need each other to get through this upheaval of our lives. So keep your distance, but don’t stop living, loving, laughing, and dancing. Enjoy the longer, warmer days and the look of genuine joy in your dog’s eyes (and tail) when you take them for yet another walk.
The World Health Organization defines health as “complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” The COVID-19 pandemic has become a moment to evaluate and tend to our health, collectively and individually — even as we fight against a generational health threat. For some, it has also provided time, space, connections, and perspective for reflection and even reinvention. Perhaps this opportunity to nurture our own personal and societal health will be an important weapon in our battle against the coronavirus. I spoke with a colleague today who shared her feelings that health is one of the things that can help us eliminate fear in times of stress and threat. Let us go then, and stare down this frightening moment. Fearlessly, together, and with all of the kindness, creativity, and courage we can marshal. And hopefully, that brings you peace and comfort.
