Donate equipment, call your friend who is a doctor or nurse working with coronavirus patients, donate money, and stay healthy at home.
We are all feeling the pressure of needing to stay at home. We are also feeling the stress of uncertain financial futures and of the ever-present rising death rates and case rates glowing around us in connection with the coronavirus.
Washing your hands and practicing social distancing can help protect you against the virus. Assuaging your worries, however, can be harder to do.
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With reports of hospitals being at capacity and brimming with patients on ventilators lying prone in intensive care units fighting for their lives, it can be easy to feel powerless in the face of the crisis.
What to do? Try to relax, and broaden your thinking, which is perhaps easier said than done. One way to empower yourself in a situation like the current pandemic is to help others. You cannot now sign up to volunteer giving out coffee in the neighborhood medical clinic, but there are other ways to help your local medical professionals.
Give Money
Consider donating money. As Marianna Pogosyan Ph.D. notes in Psychology Today.com, there is neural evidence from MRI studies suggesting there is a link in your brain between generosity and happiness. Others will gain, and so will you.
Donating money to charities has been shown to activate the same part of the brain as receiving money and having sex, which is rather inconsequential right now, but it is still interesting to ponder. Even simply having the intention of donating to an organization or an individual has been shown to make people feel happier.
How else can you help your hospital? Some sites suggest that you order food and have it delivered to the local emergency room.
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It seems that this could put the delivery person in an awkward situation, however, and perhaps a dangerous one.
In place of this, consider ordering a delivery food drop-off at home, or curbside, for someone you may know working in the healthcare field, or even at a supermarket. They could be too tired and overworked to cook, and would love your help.
If you know a frontline worker personally, text or call them. Check in for a chat. They could have a high need for emotional support, and feel thankful for the chance to offload some thoughts.
Donate Supplies
You can also check to see if your local hospital is accepting donations of necessary supplies and equipment. This could include disposable gloves, masks, sanitizers, gowns, bleach, ventilators, and more.
In New York, Americans can donate supplies to hospitals by bringing them to Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s office.
In Toronto, Canada, multiple hospitals are now accepting equipment. Those in Quebec are encouraged to contact hospitals servicing COVID-19 patients for more information.
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New York is the hardest hit area in the US to date, with over 1,500 COVID-19 deaths at the time of this writing. Gov. Cuomo has pleaded with medical personnel throughout the country living in areas not currently experiencing a high volume of coronavirus cases to consider coming to New York to volunteer their services in the front lines of medical care.
A number of charities that are supporting the COVID-19 pandemic domestically and worldwide can also be found online.
Finally, stay home and stay healthy. This is some of the best help you can offer.
