Helping Patients and Health Care Providers Through the COVID-19 Pandemic: Empirically Based Tips and Strategies to Manage Mental and Physical Health.

Lee-Baggley, Dayna; Thakrar, Sulaye

The COVID-19 pandemic is enacting a heavy mental health toll on people around the world. This article provides evidence-based information and techniques to promote and foster mental and physical health for our patients and health care providers. The article 1) reviews common emotional reactions faced by patients during the COVID-19 pandemic, 2) reviews how health care providers can help patients make sense of their experiences, and 3) teaches evidence-based skills that health care providers can use to support patients during the COVID-19 pandemic and care for themselves. The article provides tips and strategies that can be helpful in interacting with patients and supporting the well-being of health care providers. These strategies are based on empirically supported knowledge and skills drawn from literature on stress, coping, emotional management, chronic disease management, and behavior changes, and provides ways to discuss these tips with patients in applicable, understandable ways.