Burlington, Des Moines County create mental health, safety videos
Maintaining a healthy work-life balance is more stressful than ever, according to the CORE Employee Assistance Plan for area city and county employees.
And that was true in the days before COVID-19 came along.
EAP benefits available to city and county employees are cost-free and confidential. Services and resources provide assistance with a wide variety of issues ranging from stress management, legal problems and elder care, to identity theft and credit or tax problems.
Angela Vaughan is safety director for the Joint Safety Committee embracing the cities of Burlington and West Burlington, Des Moines County, the Solid Waste Commission, the Water Works Commission and Southeastern Iowa Regional Airport. Those entities came together as the JSC and brought Vaughan on to handle safety concerns for them.
“Our safety program is really a good program,” Vaughan said. “We have great department heads who bring everything together. They’re very supportive.”
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Vaughan said part of the problem with safety training a large population of public employees is providing training when employees are on vacation or out sick, and that’s how the idea of producing safety training videos was born — online videos are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 a year.
“We’ve talked about this concept before, and then COVID coming on really made us start thinking about how this is going to happen,” Vaughan said.
“The safety program they’re putting together is to make training more accessible to the county and city employees, as well as others who would be interested in watching that,” Des Moines County Public Health Administrator Christa Poggemiller said. “Safety first is always a priority, and the more education we can do, the safer people are going to be, to work and go on with their normal duties.”
The first video, filmed Wednesday, focuses on mental health. Now Vaughan’s tasks include working out the details of online presentation and what to shoot and edit next.
“It’s all new to me, but I think it went well,” Vaughan said. “The IT people helped me through this.”
Wednesday’s crew included network technicians Marcy Toal and Rich Johs. Director of administrative services Stephanie Stuecker and Vaughan’s administrative assistant, Danitha Johnson, served as equipment operators on the inaugural production.
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Vaughan said the video series does not yet have a title.
“I do a topic in our city newsletter we call The Safety Pulse. So we might do that,” she said.
The videos are aimed at employees who can’t for some reason be at on-site live presentations or who are off-shift.
“We still need the one-on-one and in-person, because then you can ask questions,” Vaughan pointed out. “But for the one-off here and there who have to miss for some reason, then everyone’s not freaking out. They understand that, ‘OK, I can go on and I can watch it online’.”
Normally Vaughan had to draw up lists of locations where she will be doing live presentations, and everyone — city, county, solid waste and airport people — had to figure out where to go and how to fit it into their individual schedules.
“That makes it really hard when you’ve got a schedule and you’re trying to get them in there,” Vaughan said.
Vaughan said “safety issues” for EAP cover a gamut of topics ranging from mental health to legal assistance for writing wills to financial assistance to help with the elderly or children. To facilitate getting up to speed, Vaughan invited an EAP employee assistance expert to come down from Des Moines to talk.
“We have expectations from (the Occupational Safety and Health Administration) — tools and ladder and chainsaw training, road safety, blood-borne pathogens and so on,” she said. “For the chainsaw training we have scheduled for the end of this month, Stihl is sending us one of their specialized instructors to do a two-hour training on chainsaw safety.”
COVID-19 training
Vaughan participated in pandemic training for years before COVID-19 hit.
“I did COVID training in January last year before it really turned into what it turned into,” she said. “Things tend to run in patterns. We knew that this was coming on and there were issues. We didn’t know how big it would be at that time, but that was a good time to start telling people, ‘OK, this is something we need to think about,’ because we know from pandemics in the past, this is how things follow through. We wanted everyone to be prepared.”
“With COVID, at this point in time, anything we can do that is distance-learning is definitely an opportunity for people. People are still not going to the mass education sites to get training,” Poggemiller said.
Mental health in the workplace
If someone is struggling with a mental health issue, their focus isn’t there, and that’s when accidents happen, Vaughan said.
Mental health in the workplace is about keeping everyone centered and balanced.
“This month’s training talks about the difference between mental illness and mental health,” Vaughan said. “It explains some of the mental illnesses we see. Those start in childhood. Some of them start during puberty. Schizophrenia is one of them that, when you’re going through puberty, that’s when those symptoms and signs start showing up. Mental illness isn’t brought on by stress, it’s not brought on by lack of nutrition, it’s not brought on from poverty. It has no barriers, where mental health can be brought on by all those things. If your diet’s not correct, if you’re overly stressed, if your situation in your life doesn’t fit, then that hits your mental health side of things.”
Vaughan said the topic of mental health is the perfect start for the new video series.
“I can’t wait to get it out, get people to open up and understand that just because you’re having a mental health issue doesn’t mean you’re going to talk to somebody and they’re going to immediately say, ‘Oh, we want to commit you’ or ‘We want to put you on all kinds of drugs,'” she said. “Maybe you need to learn how to say No, first of all. You know, ‘No, I’m going to take care of myself today.’ Change your diet, get some more exercise, figure out decompression techniques and ways to de-stress.”
Vaughan said there are things to look for in your children that can help you see if they’re struggling.
“But that doesn’t mean the children are going to feel comfortable coming and talking to you,” she said. “So make sure your children, make sure your spouse, make sure everyone in your family knows you call a number and there’s going to be someone there that can help you through a situation, or find somebody for you who could, because your child may not want to let Mom and Dad know.
“They may want to talk to someone and you not know about it in order to work through their issues,” Vaughan said. “And that’s OK.”
She said we all have to learn to quit beating up on ourselves.
“We all do stupid things, we all make mistakes. You look at other people, and especially with social media, their life looks so wonderful. It’s not: Everybody has their problems, their trials and tribulations,” Vaughan said. “You made a mistake? Understand you’re human, OK? You move on, you go forward. Instead of saying, ‘Oh, I am so stupid’ you go, ‘Wow, OK, that was a stupid move. Don’t want to do that again. Let’s figure out how we can correct this problem’.”
COVID-19 depression
Once the threat from the virus has been tamped down by recoveries and vaccinations, society will still be in a state of flux, and a backlash of depression will remain a threat for many.
Mental health effects during a global pandemic are important to monitor, especially in children. Although it has been estimated that youth and young adults have the lowest mortality rates from COVID-19, they are not immune to its consequences, according to the Boys and Girls Clubs of America.
Many students across the nation have been dealing with sudden changes to their social lives and daily routines, the inability to access education, food insecurity, and some may even experience unsafe emotional or physical home environments. These challenges can present feelings of sadness, despair, anxiety and stress, said Dr. Gil Noam, founder and director of The Partnerships in Education and Resilience — of PEAR —EAR Institute at McLean Hospital and Harvard Medical School.
“The feeling of a safe environment where the relationships really matter in a positive way is essential and will have a strong effect in the long term,” Dr. Noam said about students and children.
Bereavement, isolation, loss of income and fear are triggering mental health conditions or exacerbating existing ones. Many people may be facing increased levels of alcohol and drug use, insomnia and anxiety, according to the World Health Organization. COVID-19 itself can lead to neurological and mental complications, such as delirium, agitation, and stroke. People with pre-existing mental, neurological or substance use disorders are also more vulnerable to COVID-19 infection, and they may stand a higher risk of severe outcomes and even death.
The Mayo Clinic says many long-term COVID-19 effects remain unknown. Many large medical centers are opening specialized clinics to provide care for people who have persistent symptoms or related illnesses after they recover from COVID-19. Support groups are available as well.
Most people recover quickly, but the potentially long-lasting problems from COVID-19 make it even more important to reduce its spread by following precautions including wearing masks, social distancing, avoiding crowds, getting a vaccine when available and keeping hands clean.
And keep your chin up: A positive attitude is solidly proven to aid recovery from disease of all kinds.
Read more at www.who.int.
Take care of yourself
The person most responsible for your mental health is you. Here are some things that can help you when you are feeling out of sorts and not yourself:
- Be kind to yourself, understand that it is OK to not be OK
- Eat a healthy diet
- Exercise adequately, but not obsessively
- Take time for yourself, take a break
- Care for yourself and tell yourself something positive
- Get plenty of sleep
- Manage your stress
Things to help you manage stress:
- Play — Try something new and fun. Know the things that you personally enjoy and take time for those things. “We don’t stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing.” That quote says it all.
- Know yourself — Be attuned to your thoughts and feelings. Keep a journal. Recognize when ” this just doesn’t feel the way I usually think or act.”
- Say “no” sometimes — don’t overlook your schedule or your life. Walk away from chaos and distractions. Make time for quiet. Make yourself a priority. You can’t help someone else if you are not being taken care of.
- Recognize warning signs: How do I think? How do I feel? How do I act?
- Practice stress management and other self-care strategies throughout your life. Deep breathing, 4-Square breathing, taking a walk and getting fresh air. Find your fit and what works best for you.
These other hotline numbers provide trained help 24 hours a day:
Alcohol and Drugs: (800) 729-6686
Crisis: (800) 332-4224
Domestic violence: (800) 799-7233
Gambling:
- (800) 238-7633 – Iowa
- (800) 426-2537 – Illinois
- (888) 238-7633 – Missouri
Missing and Exploited Children: (800) 843-5678
Sexual abuse
- (800) 284-7821 – Iowa
- (309) 837-5555 – Illinois (Hancock and Henderson counties)
- (800) 799-7233 – Missouri
