General Advice - British and Irish Orthoptic Society

Latest Advice

Updates in relation to COVID-19 (Coronavirus) are changing rapidly as the spread of the virus develops. Below you will find links to the latest advice.

The most up to date details from each country can be found here:

England: https://www.england.nhs.uk/coronavirus/
Scotland: https://www.nhsinform.scot/coronavirus
Northern Ireland: https://www.publichealth.hscni.net/news/covid-19-coronavirus
Wales: https://gov.wales/coronavirus
Republic of Ireland: https://www.gov.ie/en/campaigns/c36c85-covid-19-coronavirus/

Advice on staying healthy

Social Distancing and Self- Isolating

The Royal College of Occupational Therapists have put together a ‘Top 10 Tips if You’re Social Distancing: https://www.rcot.co.uk/staying-well-when-social-distancing.

Top 10 tips when social distancing

Establish a daily routine. Routines provide structure and purpose.
Balance your weekly routine so you have a good mix of work (activities that have to be done), rest and leisure.
Think about the regular activities that are most important to you. What are the important elements to these? Can you adapt them to carry out in the home? For example, instead of a class, following an online strength and balance routine.
Set daily goals to provide purpose and a sense of achievement. This might include working through that list of the things you keep meaning to do but never get round to?
Identify the triggers that make you feel low and look for ways to reduce or manage them.
Talk with family, friends and neighbours to help them understand how you feel and how they can help. Can they talk you through using apps on your mobile phone, for instance?
Take care of yourself. Eat and drink healthily with plenty of fruit, vegetables and water to support your immune function and energy levels. For more information see the BDA website.
Avoid staying still for too long. Exercise and regular movement will maintain fitness and strength. If you are working from home, take breaks and eat away from your “desk.”
Have a good sleep routine. If you are struggling, try avoiding tea and coffee in the late afternoon and evening, take a bath, using blackout curtains, listening to gentle music or deep breathing exercises.
Keep in touch. Arrange to speak to someone most days on the phone, through social media or over the garden fence. Age UK and Silverline have people to speak to.

The British Dietetic Association have a whole section answering questions relating to diet and nutrition: https://www.bda.uk.com/resource/covid-19-corona-virus-advice-for-the-general-public.html.

Mental Wellbeing

It is important that you also focus on maintaining good mental health and wellbeing at this time, whether dealing with the challenges of work or having to self-isolate.

There’s loads of information and resources on looking after your mental health on the NHS Every Mind Matters site, including advice if you need to stay at home and tips for dealing with anxiety around coronavirus.
In Scotland, the National Wellbeing Hub provides advice and support for anyone working in health or social services in Scotland.
The Intensive Care Society wellbeing resource library has information on understanding the impact of reduced psychological wellbeing at work and what you can do in response, including tips for dealing with extraordinary situations such as COVID-19 and everyday working in critical care.
The World Health Organisation have also issued guidance on the Mental Health and Psychosocial Considerations During COVID-19 Outbreak
Public Health England have developed an online Psychological First Aid course, providing training to help people with different needs cope with the emotional impact of COVID-19. Its aimed at frontline workers and is available to access for free here.

NHS staff have also been given free access to a number of well-being acts from now until the end of December:

Access to Unmind, a workplace mental health platform is free to NHS workers during the COVID-19 outbreak. You just need to register here with an NHS email.
Headspace, is a science-backed app in mindfulness and meditation, providing unique tools and resources to help reduce stress, build resilience, and aid better sleep.
Sleepio and Daylight, are clinically-evidenced sleep improvement programmes that is fully automated and highly personalised, using cognitive behavioural techniques to help improve poor sleep.

NHS England have also set up Virtual Staff Common Rooms, for staff to come together virtually and support each other during these difficult times (details below – click to enlarge).

To book, visit: https://people.nhs.uk/help/