The Faculty of Psychology and Speech Therapy at the University of La Laguna (ULL) has created materials to help manage COVID-19 anxiety.

The declaration of alarm and subsequent confinement by the risk of transmission of Covid-19 has meant that various groups have sought ways in solidarity with those that help to cope with this situation. One of them has been the teaching staff of the Faculty of Psychology and Logopedics, University of la Laguna, which has created a series of audiovisual materials aimed at various audiences, with the goal of helping to manage the potential mental health problems arising from the crisis, lived these last two weeks.

These contents have begun to spread through the web page of the University of la Laguna, in the section of the cover dedicated to the Covid-19. Consisting of videos, audio files, and posters that address different issues. Already published a first batch of materials, but the idea is that are going to be updated and expanded over these days, so it is recommended to visit the page often.

A portion of these materials are specifically directed at medical staff that these days is in the first line of care to the infected population and, therefore, lives in a situation of particular stressful. But there is also content for the general population, especially oriented to manage the anxiety of the landfill.

In this way, the materials for health care personnel published up to now are two videos, “How to live with fear of contagion in the hospital” and “Live with the suffering of others”; and two pamphlets: “Supervision of teams in situations of high uncertainty” and “Communicating bad news on the phone“.

In terms of the content to the general population, include a section to help “repair psychologically”, consisting of four videos that explain the different types of breathing: basic, larga and deep, circular , and triangular. in Addition, professor María Teresa Miró hang a daily sessions of meditation and mindfulness audios, approximately, ten minutes each, which have already been published by seven.

The initiative of the faculty

The dean of the Faculty of Psychology and Logopedics, Maria Angeles Alonso Rodriguez, explains that this initiative was put in place about two weeks ago on the initiative of professor Naira Agent-Rodríguez, and the support of the vice dean of Academic Planning, Estefanía Hernández-Fernaud. To articulate it, opened a collaborative environment virtual in which the faculty of the center that wanted to adhere participated in a brainstorming about possible contents that it would be advisable to develop. Once determined, every two or three teachers was in charge of developing one of them and, in the past days, I had to rest up for its final validation.

The dean explains that he has already drafted a letter addressed to the Canary islands Health Service to inform you of the existence of these contents and to propose their dissemination among the collective regional health. In his opinion, these materials will still be needed after the period of confinement: “After the confinement is a long process of adjustment mental about what they have lived through these professionals. When you are finished, I will come in around the head and will have to manage all that anxiety.”

For his part, professor Naira Delgado explained that the initiative to create these materials had two motivations. The first was the own desire collaborative of teachers, like other professionals, were raised, how they could contribute something useful to this situation. “In the same way that other colleagues have been to create objects with 3D printers, we understood that we could help people who might have a hard time, as health care professionals, and social health, as well as the society in general.”

The second motivation came from informal conversations with health care professionals that the teacher could have, when she was a teacher’s Degree in Nursing and participate in some research projects in health contexts. “There were people who informed us of what bad passed by the fear of contagion, and having to deal with situations that had never lived, as have patients without accompanying family or having to give bad news over the phone. They have had to learn on the fly and without help,” something that has been tried to alleviate with these pills training.