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Employee Whole Health
Self-Care Resources for Your Whole Health
We are all faced with new challenges as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. How we deal with and adapt to change affects our ability to respond to these challenges.
It is more important than ever to take care of your physical, mental, and emotional well-being. Finding ways to care for ourselves, staying balanced and resilient, is critically important so that we can care for our Veterans, families, and communities. The following resources are quick, virtual tools to help you manage stress and promote your Whole Health during these unprecedented times.
Overwhelmed? Need to talk to someone right now?
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline - For any person in distress or their loved ones.We can all help prevent suicide. The Lifeline provides 24/7, free and confidential support for people in distress, prevention and crisis resources for you or your loved ones, and best practices for professionals.
- Call 1-800-273-TALK (8255)
- En Espanol: 1-888-628-9454
- Start a confidential chat
- Call TTY if you have hearing loss 1-800-799-4889
- Get more resources at SuicidePreventionLifeline.org.
Veterans Crisis Line - We’re here anytime, day or night – 24/7.
If you are a Veteran in crisis or concerned about one, connect with our caring, qualified responders for confidential help. Many of them are Veterans themselves.
- Call 1-800-273-8255 and press 1
- Text 838255
- Start a confidential chat
- Call TTY if you have hearing loss 1-800-799-4889
- Get more resources at VeteransCrisisLine.net.
Physician Support Line
What Is Physician Support Line? Physician Support Line is a national, free, and confidential support line service made up of 600+ volunteer psychiatrists, joined together in the determined hope to provide peer support for our physician colleagues as we all navigate the COVID-19 pandemic.
Call 1-888-409-0141. No appointment necessary. https://www.physiciansupportline.com/
Disaster Distress Helpline
All VA employees are eligible to contact this helpline at 1-800-985-5990 or even text, "TalkWithUs" to 66746, to be connected to a trained counselor. Help is available 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week.
This section includes brief videos to encourage pausing for empowering resilience. We want to include a wide array of diverse voices and perspectives from our VA Employees across the nation, so we hope you will consider submitting your own video by using the instructions posted HERE. Please be sure to check your sound to ensure adequate volume before submitting.
Words of Encouragement
- Dr. Maureen Marks, Executive Director VHA National Center for Organization Development (1:55)
- Dr. Richard Stone, VHA Executive in Charge (3:08 min)
- Chaplain Juliana Lesher, National Director of VA Chaplain Service (1:27 min)
- Chaplain Melvin Jones, Hines VAMC (1:15 min)
- Dr. Marcia Hunt, National Mental Health Quality Improvement and Implementation Consultant (2:00 min)
- Chaplain Samuel Cabrera, Roudebush VAMC (1:24 min)
- Chaplain Sherri Headen, Roudebush VAMC (1:56 min)
Meditation
- Delana Cole, Clinical Social Worker, Atlanta VA Mental Health Intensive Case Management (1:21 min)
- Chaplain Patricia Roberts, James A. Haley VA (1:52 min)
- Mary Desario, Social Worker & Local Recovery Coordinator, Stratton VA (2:03 min)
Audio files
- Grounding Meditation by Christiane Wolf (5 minutes)
- Mindfulness of Sounds Meditation by Greg Serpa (10 minutes)
- Body Scan Meditation by Christiane Wolf (15 minutes)
- Ten Lessons I Learned in War that Can Help in Coping with the Coronavirus by Julie Barker, OEF/OIF Veteran and LCSW (16 minutes)
- Relaxation Recordings
- Mindful Muscle Relaxation (4:18)
- Loving Kindness Meditation (3:27)
- Breathing Exercises (6:53)
- Taking Time to Pause (9:56)
- Five Minute Stress Management (5:07)
- Acupressure (3:53)
- Progressive Muscle Relaxation (14:00)
- Mindful Poetry (5:27)
Videos
- VA Chaplaincy: A Passion For People
- It Is Well With My Soul (4:57) Performed by a virtual cell phone choir, Nashville, TN
- Chaplain Corner - Orhan Cetin, Muslim Chaplain, VA NY HHS (2:40)
- Deciding on What You Need for Spiritual Health
- Spiritual Anchors
- Beliefs and Your Health
- Spiritual Care Resources (Uplifting scriptures and spiritual quotes)
- For Frontline Health Care Workers
- For Leaders & Supervisors
- Helpful Thinking During the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Outbreak
- Managing Stress Associated with the COVID-19 Virus Outbreak
- Tips for Providing Support to Others During the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Outbreak
- #LiveWholeHealth
- Gut Health
- To Take Care of Others, Start by Taking Care of Yourself
- COVID Coach App
- Self-Care During the COVID-19 Response
- Federal Employee Caregiver Affiinity Group Flyer
- VA Guide for Veteran Caregiver Resources
- Message to Veterans, Madison VA
- Cultivating Resilience in the Face of Adversity Course: For CEUs, VA employees can register on the VA Talent Management System (only available inside the VA firewall).
- Part 1: Learn the Basic Strategies for Building Resilience and handout discusses common experiences with stress during times of crisis and adversity and provides strategies for cultivating personal and organizational resilience.
- Part 2: Apply the Resilience Skills to Home and Work Stressors and handout provides specific application of those tools to specific stressors, such as parenting and working in a virtual environment.
Videos
- Yoga Demo (11 minutes)
- Tai Chi Demo (14 minutes)
- Chair Yoga from WRIISC (7 minutes)
- Gentle Chair Yoga from Central Arkansas VAMC (7 minutes)
- Mindful Hatha Yoga from WRIISC (8 minutes)
- Qigong and Energy Gates from WRIISC (4:48)
- Interval Training (from VA Public Health)
- Latin Dance (from VA Public Health)
- Strength Training (from VA Public Health)
Resources
- Child Care for VA Employees
- Parenting Course
- Parenting2Go Mobile App
- Cultivating Resilience in the Face of Adversity Course: For CEUs, VA employees can register on the VA Talent Management System (only available inside the VA firewall).
- Part 1: Learn the Basic Strategies for Building Resilience and handout (“QSV Cultivating Resilience Part 1") discusses common experiences with stress during times of crisis and adversity and provides strategies for cultivating personal and organizational resilience.
- Part 2: Apply the Resilience Skills to Home and Work Stressors and handout (“QSV Cultivating Resilience Part 2”) provides specific application of those tools to specific stressors, such as parenting and working in a virtual environment.
- VA Voices #ChalkChallenge
- Veterans’ Singalong Tribute to VA Healthcare Workers
- Press Release from SecVA: Veteran Trust Rises Above 90%
- Veteran Compliments
- Blog Post: Owning the Moment Through COVID-19
- My Life, My Story - video overview (7:12). VA Staff can call in each weekday to listen to a Veteran story. Calls last 5-10 minutes and are Veteran stories from VAMC's around the county that have My Life, My Story programs.
- How to attend: Monday - Friday, 11:11 AM Central Time. Use Google Chrome with https://join.freeconferencecall.com/story-a-day or dial 425-436-6313, access code: 331095#
Facility Recognition
- Dr. Thiajaragan, Dr. McGowen, and staff at Texas City VA Clinic (TX)
- Wilmington VA Police Service, Willimington VA Medical Center (DE)
- San Diego VA Medical Center Staff (requires MS PowerPoint)
- Traci, Primary Care Nurse for Dr. Kaiser, Cheyenne VAMC (WY)
- Dr. Michael, RN Roxanne, and Alpha Team at the William "Bill" Kling VA Clinic, Miami VAMC (FL)
- Dr. Gupta, Nashville VAMC (TN)
- Dr. Williamson, Beaumont CBOC (TX)
- Northwest Primary Care Clinic,North Las Vegas VA Medical Center (NV)
- Ms. Nonie Mazerski, VA Volunteer, Manchester VAMC (NH)
- Ms. Melissa Fadipe, VA Nurse Practitioner and ANCC Magnet Nurse of the Year, Houston VAMC (TX)
- VA Volunteer Services, Eugene Towbin VA Medical Center at North Little Rock (AR)
- Wilkes-Barre VA Medical Center (PA)
- Drs. Bowling, Gonzales and Menzies and staff, Biloxi VAMC (MS)
- Lima Clinic, Dayton VAMC (OH)
- Married Couple and VA Nurses Chris and Denee Killion, Omaha VAMC (NE)
- Dr. Taylor, Wilmington VA Clinic, Fayetteville VAMC (NC)
- Ms. Harley Buxton, Volunteer, Dublin VAMC (GA)
- Medical Team at the Bryan/College Station CBOC, Temple VAMC (TX)
- Ms. Angie, Birmingham VAMC Nurse (AL)
- Ms. Stephanie and Staff at the Decatur VA Clinic, Danville VAMC (IL)
- Dr. Sweeney & Staff, Hunter Holmes McGuire VAMC (VA)
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