It’s no secret that serving in the senior living space comes with stress, and lots of it, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Whether you are helping your residents stay healthy and engaged, or implementing one of the hundreds of infection control directives to keep them safe, you need to find time to take a break. Pause for a minute. Allow yourself to process what’s happening and how it could be affecting you and your staff, both physically and emotionally.
I’ve talked to so many peers who tell me they’re working long hours to ensure their residents’ safety, but when I ask what they are doing for themselves to recharge, I get a long moment of silence. That silence tells me many of you are also not taking the time you need to recover. Listen, you’re all superheroes, but even superman needs a break, or he wouldn’t be able to keep doing superhuman things!
So, let’s talk about the physical response of stress. As you may know, your body goes through three stages, also known as general adaptation syndrome, when you experience stress:
● First, the body goes through the alarm reaction stage. You may know of the “fight-or-flight” response, which occurs in this stage.
● Then, there is the resistance stage, which is the make or break stage. The body continues to stay in a state of alertness to fight against or adapt to the stressor.
● Lastly, there is the exhaustion stage, which results in extended periods of stress that go unrelieved. This stage can have effects such as fatigue, depression and anxiety.
Eric Butterworth said it best, “Today doctors are coming to accept as a fact of life the evidence that many ills are emotionally induced or, at least, influenced. There are those who say that 50 percent of all illness is EII (emotionally induced illness). Others say it is more like 90 percent.”
Stress is part of life, and since it isn’t going anywhere, we need to figure out how to manage it. Completing a DISC assessment might help you manage stress by revealing your behavioral style, such as how you respond to challenges, which allows us to pinpoint what stress recovery activities provide the most relief. Figuring out how you deal with stress can help prevent chronic illness while also empowering you to be a better leader.
If you haven’t taken a DISC assessment, that’s alright. We can evaluate it differently. Are you an extrovert or an introvert? An extrovert tends to focus outward, into the world. Introverts focus inward into their thoughts. Do you feel energized by people or alone time? Ask yourself these questions, then see some examples of how your style can recharge effectively with the image below.
Allowing yourself time to recover from stress in a way that feels fulfilling and natural comes with incredible benefits:
● Improved immunity (and who doesn’t need that right now?)
● Decreased blood pressure and heart rate
● Improved digestion
● More creative energy
● Higher Emotional Intelligence
Now is the best time to choose a new activity to de-stress. Commit to your health and safety, so you can continue taking care of others. Spend 5-10 minutes every day doing something that will relieve stress. Put it on your calendar if it helps! You deserve and require recovery.
If you’d like to go a step further, there are some things you can do to help relieve your staff’s stress levels. In general, most stress we experience can be attributed to lacking some the following:
● Information & guidelines
● Independence & control
● Security & stability
● Or people interaction & spotlight (or attention)
These needs come from the four behavior types of the DISC assessment, which you can see in the circle image below.
Most extroverts—the Dominance and Influence profile types—thrive on being around and having interactions with other people. Can you see how the current COVID situation precipitates stress for extroverts? As a leader, what can you do to help the extroverts on your team? Maybe you can make an effort to connect with those people more often. With our way of life shaken and all the different directives from our government, most of us are feeling a loss of control right now. If you identify someone on your team that seems to be struggling more so with this feeling, they probably have a high Dominant or Influence personality style. You could help them by making them feel a sense of control at work. Perhaps you could give them a specific project to take over or implement a new policy that gives them more opportunities.
On the other hand, introverts—the Steadiness and Compliance profile types—have a high need for a stable environment and large amounts of information. As a manager, what can you do to provide stability and information to these styles? Well, vetting new guidelines as they come out before sharing them with these team members could be helpful, since we all know how frequently directives change. Frequent and unnecessary changes can quickly raise an introvert’s stress levels.
When we become aware of and observe the things that create stress for ourselves and our team, we can modify our delivery of information or adjust our approach. Now is a great time to reflect on how you can help reduce stress. It’s also the perfect time to give yourself permission to find time to recharge and relax every day. Don’t feel guilty about prioritizing you. When your team sees you, living less stressed, your lower stress levels will become contagious. You will start to see others permit themselves to recharge and relax as well. Plus, a refreshed perspective on things will surely improve outcomes and engagement as we move forward through these uncharted waters. With healthcare workers leaving the industry when we need them the most, promoting self-care and recovery should be top-of-mind.
If you’d like to learn more about using our senior living program to retain and develop better leaders, please contact Katie Piperata at katie@kpvmove.com or visit www.kpvmove.com.
