Health and Wellness Apps are Helping Our Healthcare Workers

Published on March 27, 2020

“It is scary going in and not knowing what’s going to happen that day, but you have to stay positive because you are basically everyone’s hero right now,” says a Cartersville Nurse Assistant.

Right now, nurses, doctors, surgeons, and even retirees are on the front lines facing this pandemic head first while trying to stay sane, strong, and uplifting. These are our heroes now who are out fighting and helping us stay safe and healthy, but during this time, the level of stress and anxiety can start to take a toll on our healthcare workers. So, in order to help out, many health and wellness apps have provided free services for these workers to help them cope. 

Wellness apps are making their services free to many healthcare workers.

As you have seen on many social media platforms or news broadcasts, our healthcare workers are telling us to stay home and wash our hands. We see on a daily basis how these brave people are risking their lives for us during these unpredictable times, and what way than to give back is to check up on them and see how their mental health is doing. 

The popular mediation app Headspace announced that it will make its services free to healthcare workers who work in public health until the end of the year. With the overcrowded hospitals and the pressure of being on the front lines to help, Headspace wanted to offer this in hopes to reduce the stress. Another with this service Headspace has also added an assortment of content called “Weathering The Storm,” and its services include meditations, sleep, and movement exercises. This service is available and free to the public. 

Other mediation, mindful and care delivery apps such as Simple Habit, Balance, and Sanvello are also providing free services for healthcare workers as well as anyone else who is in need and coping with stress anxiety, etc. during the pandemic.

“My manager sent us an app thought email,” says Cartersville Nurse Assistant. “Times like this are causing a lot of stress on people mentally and physically. As a healthcare worker, we try to show how brave we are every day at work and in front of our patients, but behind the scenes, we are all mentally and physically drained. Not everyone can handle this type of stress on their own so having help and encouragement from an app or a therapist is great to have to get through these stressful times,” they said.

Healthcare workers are facing other issues related to their work that they never expected.

It’s not only essential to have these resources for everyone but, most importantly, that we have these types of support for healthcare professionals during a time when they’re facing an increase of patients in need of critical care. We have to remember these people don’t have to be out doing this, but they choose to. Doing this is something that they want to do and enjoy doing.

“I’m actually afraid to go into public before work with my scrubs anymore after those two another incident that happened,” says the same Carterville Nurse.

We, as people, should understand the stress and what these workers are going through day by day. They are feeling the same way we are feeling scared, confused, and ready for all this to come to an end. We have to realize that they’re facing a tough reality in ways we cannot imagine, and they come face to face with the unknown while we sit and watch the news for updates. 

Jori Ayers is a Staff Writer at Grit Daily based in Tampa, Florida. She was formerly with the editorial team at Tampa Bay Parenting Magazine.

Read more

More GD News