In September 2020, the mental healthcare community will focus on the troubling issue of suicide. The importance of this issue is underscored by a recent study published by the CDC. Specifically, in a sample of over 5,400 adults in the United States, approximately 25.5% of study participants aged 18-24 had “seriously considered” suicide in the month of June 2020. This spike was attributed in great part to the pandemic.

August 21 is National Senior Citizen Day, the day designated to let seniors know how much we care and to recognize their accomplishments. Started in 1988, President Ronald Reagan proclaimed this holiday to raise awareness about issues that affect senior citizens and their quality of life.

EMH prides itself in the quality of our relationships with seniors, and for a deep understanding of the merits of the greatest generation. We asked our team to share some inspiring stories about EMH team’s relationships with seniors – here are their beautiful testimonies to a simple question:

At this juncture in the history of our nation, we are witness to a crisis, COVID-19, that is unparalleled in most of our lifetimes with regard to the devastation that it has wrought. In the United States, over 4,500,000 individuals have been diagnosed with the disease and 154,000 have died. While the number of new cases reported in the United States on a day-to-day basis is lower than the peak levels reported on 07/17/2020 and 07/24/2020, the epidemiological data do not reflect a clear diminution of the incidence of new cases. These staggering numbers are deeply concerning, but those data fail to capture an important cohort of individuals who are adversely impacted as a result of coronavirus.

To say that the past few weeks have been a whirlwind for me would be an understatement. The last time I can recall having such a high intensity, wide range, and unpredictability of emotions was during my first year of college in Williamsburg, Virginia, at the 2nd oldest college in the nation, where racial and class divides were glaringly and gut-wrenchingly obvious – to me at least, and especially in hindsight.

Back in March, Executive Mental Health’s partner facilities started closing off access to reduce the spread of COVID-19. Our psychologists and neuropsychologists couldn’t visit their patients, and neither could the patient’s families. Unable to offer mental health care when most needed, EMH worked fast to devise a new system, and TeleHealth was born.

When the stay-at-home order was implemented in California in mid-March, Executive Mental Health (EMH) was faced with the challenge of how best to manage the unexpected changes associated with the pandemic so that we could continue to provide mental health care for our inpatients and outpatients. EMH chose to adapt to and overcome these obstacles, which were formidable, with the assistance of its partners, i.e., the staff members at acute and long-term care facilities. Some ten weeks later, we are pleased to report good news – the changes we have made together are working!

Even before COVID-19, staff at long-term care facilities managed stress and hardship on a daily basis. Every day they care for people facing serious and life-threatening health problems, putting residents’ needs ahead of their own. The nurses and caregivers, rehabilitation therapists, social workers and administrators, and kitchen and housekeeping staff are all essential workers. But what happens when that team needs help to carry on? When is it ok to say you can’t handle the new normal?

In a Forbes article entitled, America After COVID-19, author Soulaima Gourani opined, “For businesses and industries to recover and thrive in these uncharted waters, they must not freeze and hunker down. Instead, they must move forward and develop new models to be ready for what's to come.”

Thinking about your aging parents in this crisis can be stressful. They may know to wash their hands and stay at home. But, can you help them feel connected in this time of social distancing, without letting your worry interfere? Is there a better way to say, “Mom, I just called to say… wait, you went where yesterday?”

Last Saturday, I purchased two iPads at BestBuy. The process of ordering them online was cumbersome, and the wait to collect them from curbside delivery was equally slow. While waiting in the parking lot to collect the equipment, I could hear other customers grumbling, voicing their frustrations regarding the time needed to fulfill their orders, and, in some cases, berating customer service representatives for the slow process.

Over the past month, we have learned about the effects of a devastating illness, COVID-19, the consequences of which remain unknown. Moreover, and on each subsequent day, we receive new information regarding the transmission of COVID-19 and how we can work together as a community to “flatten the curve” and limit disease transmission.

At Executive Mental Health, the safety of our patients, partners, and team is the highest priority. Thus, we are closely following the guidance from the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and educating our clinicians and field staff regarding best practices regarding the coronavirus.