COVID Talk- Fostering Wellness During COVID-19 Outbreak Discussion with Dr. Keith D. Pedro

Join us on October 5th via zoom 12pm HST for a discussion opportunity with Dr. Keith Pedro and his team on the pre/post COVID changes both personal and professional. Dr. Pedro is a clinical and forensic psychologist who will discuss on ways to fostering wellness during the COVID-19 outbreak.

Attendees are encouraged to submit questions to be addressed anonymously by the presenter. Please submit questions via email to Greg Endo, greg@pacificasourcing.com, by 5pm Thursday 10/1/2020. 

ZOOM LINK: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86162287573?pwd=eWtnNTdtcTZSTGZxSm02MUFOQWJkUT09

During this discussion, we will be focusing on two main points:

1. 1. Learning to adapt to unforseeable changes and building resiliency 
   2. Taking a “proactive stance” and “control” of one’s environment after assessing where one is in this current situation

More information on the topic of discussion from Dr. Pedro:

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic may be stressful for people. Fear and anxiety about a new disease and what could happen can be overwhelming and cause strong emotions in adults and children. Public health actions, such as social distancing, can make people feel isolated and lonely and can increase stress and anxiety. However, these actions have been deemed necessary to reduce the spread of COVID-19. Coping with stress in a healthy way will make us, the people we care about, and our community stronger.

Everyone reacts differently to stressful situations.

How you respond to stress during the COVID-19 pandemic can depend on your background, your social support from family or friends, your financial situation, your health and emotional background, the community you love in, and many other factors. The changes that can happen because of the COVID-19 pandemic and the ways we try to contain the spread of the virus can affect anyone.

People who may respond more strongly to the stress of a crisis include:

• People who are at higher risk for severe illness from COVID-19 (for example, older people, and people of any age with certain underlying medical conditions.)
• Children and teens
• Family members providing direct care for family members or loved ones. For many of us here in Hawaii, caring for our elderly is a customary/traditional- especially so for Asian families
• Those who use substances or have a substance use disorder
• People who have lost their jobs, had their work hours reduces, or had other major changes to their employment
• People who are socially isolated from others, including people who live alone, and those who relocated here for work prior to the pandemic.

Your may find yourselves experiencing secondary traumatic stress which results from someone we know experiencing the primary stressor.