Coping Together: How community connection lifts us mentally, socially, and physiologically
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused stress for every member of society: whether it is job loss, financial insecurity, health and safety concerns, difficult choices, an unknown future, or social isolation. Frontline workers continue to provide essential services at their own risk, and those staying at home are facing isolation-fatigue, the pressure to work and manage family, and personal health and safety issues. For those without homes or living in unsafe places or already managing a crisis in their life, the pandemic presents further challenges to receiving much-needed social support. But in this time of fear and uncertainty, we’ve also been heartened by good news stories in our community: businesses have transitioned to supply personal protective equipment, students have volunteered to deliver groceries to seniors, and neighbours join together daily to cheer for frontline workers. Moderated by Kathryn Gretsinger, MJ'06, Senior Instructor, UBC Graduate School of Journalism; Senior Faculty Advisor to UBC President.
Hear from UBC experts from the Faculty of Arts and the School of Nursing as they discuss how community connection can continue to bring us hope, including what nurses can teach us from supporting patients, and the science behind coping with stress.
This is the eighth webinar in our COVID-19 series.
Featuring
Dr. Elisabeth Bailey - Assistant Professor of Teaching, School of Nursing, UBC Faculty of Applied Science
Dr. Frances Chen - Associate Professor of Psychology, Department of Psychology, UBC Faculty of Arts
Recorded June 19, 2020.
Links to helpful information referenced in webinar:
- Feeling stressed? Help a stranger
- Dr. Francis Chen’s Social Health Lab
- UBC School of Nursing, Staying Well When News is Stressful
Other helpful information:
Stories about community coping and coming together:
- Music students join Faculty of Medicine initiative to support seniors during COVID-19
- Project Choir- Antine – performing "When You Believe" (Featuring 150 individuals from 27 cities and 4 countries singing their hearts out to lift spirits and raise money for Vancouver Food Banks Canada and BC Women’s Foundation.)
- A Q&A with Dylan Gunn on his work to combat COVID-19 - How Dylan Gunn, and his team worked together to produce face masks and collect PPE’s during COVID-19
- Corona in Vancouver: A Historical Collection Project
- The Activism Through Technology and Art Collective (ATTA Collective) are working on a project focused on capturing and sharing diverse experiences of COVID-19 across Vancouver
- UBC students help frontline medical workers
- UBCO engineering instructor designs small device with big impact for health workers
- Hacking The Virus: Eight University of British Columbia Grads Step Up To Supply the COVID-19 Shortage
- Teiya Kashara - 19 Videos for COVID-19
Supported by:
Please support the UBC President’s Pandemic Recovery Initiative
The effects of the COVID-19 global pandemic have been immediate and far-reaching—but together we can support each other and quickly adapt to rapidly changing circumstances. As a world-leading research university with a deep commitment to our students, we find ourselves in a position of strength to meet the challenges brought on by the pandemic. UBC is responding to the situation by creating the UBC President’s Pandemic Recovery Initiative, which encompasses funds to provide emergency relief for students and accelerate advanced research. Please join others in the UBC community as we face this immense challenge head on by contributing to one of the two opportunities if you can. With your help, we can get through this—together.