Author: Andy

A Difficult Conversation About COVID-19 – Care Planning

For those of us more at risk from Corona Virus, over the next few days and weeks, your GP will be in touch to have a difficult conversation with you about care planning. That means a conversation about what your wishes would be, if you become very unwell from COVID-19. We find ourselves in unchartered waters and unprecedented times. Conversations about what might happen if we become seriously unwell, or have to face death are never easy, but they are really important. Here, I invite us to start having those conversations and to think about what really matters to us.

 

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Why Lockdown?!

It seems that not everyone is too sure about this ‘Lockdown’ business. Some people are insinuating that the government advice isn’t trustworthy, and others plainly don’t believe it or perhaps don’t understand the rationale. In this vlog, I try and explain why scientists and medics are uniting with one voice to ask us all to take it really seriously…..without this, the NHS will be brought to it’s knees and many more people will die unnecessarily. Don’t think it only affects those who are more elderly or vulnerable – it does not!

 

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COVID19 Advice for TEACHERS and TAs!

We’ve had loads of questions in the last few days from many of our brilliant teachers and TAs around COVID19 and how they can stay safe whilst they remain in school, looking after the children of ‘Key Workers’. I am SO grateful for everything that is being done – here is some advice that I hope is helpful! As with ANY of my videos and due to the changing nature of evidence, as we learn more….if anything changes, I will post an update. If that happens I will delete this video and do another on. The evidence is a bit conflicting currently. This video is based on evidence from the World Health Organisation:

https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/coronaviruse/situation-reports/20200306-sitrep-46-covid-19.pdf?sfvrsn=96b04adf_2

Page 2 of WHO report: Children are important drivers of influenza virus transmission in the community. For COVID-19 virus, initial data indicates that children are less affected than adults and that clinical attack rates in the 0-19 age group are low. Further preliminary data from household transmission studies in China suggest that children are infected from adults, rather than vice versa.

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A Message to Our NHS & Public Sector Staff & Community Volunteers

This is my message to NHS & Public Sector staff, and all our community volunteers, during this Corona Virus Pandemic – so grateful for all you are doing. Let’s look after each other.

 

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4 Things to Do If You Are ‘Isolated’ at Home Because of Corona Virus

I’ve been thinking about how people can best use their time, if they are stuck at home during this Corona Virus, Covid-19 Pandemic. Some people will be asked to ‘self-isolate’, along with their household for 14 days because they have symptoms of a high temperature and/or a persistent and troubling cough. Others will be asked to do the same for 12 weeks if they are pregnant, over 70, or usually receive a flu-jab on the NHS (due to having an underlying health condition or on medication that suppresses their immune system). The reason for all of this is to try and suppress the spread of this virus, and maintain health in the wider community until we are sure we have better treatments and a vaccine that we can use across the population. Obviously, if you’re unwell, the first priority is to give your body time to recuperate by taking plenty of fluids (2-3 litres of water per day), eating well, sleeping and letting your immune system do it’s job, whilst you take paracetamol (at the recommended dose) to control your temperature and levels of pain. For many people, however, this time may feel frustrating, because symptoms will be mild or absent and some will be wondering what to do with the time they have been ‘gifted’.

 

There are 4 things, which I believe we can all do during this time, if we find ourselves in the situation of being in isolation, but not actually feeling too unwell.

 

  1. REST
  2. REFLECT
  3. RE-IMAGINE
  4. RESET

 

REST

This is something which we tend to not be very good at. However, we have been given the opportunity to step back from the fast-paced, consumerist-approach that we have adopted in society and take some time to just BE. Learning to accept that we are where we are and deliberately slowing down will enable us to find new strength and reconnect with that which is most important. Deliberately slowing down our breathing, our pace of walking and learning to calm our racing thoughts allows us to enter into a different mindset. Choosing to turn off our screens and disconnect from social media for good portions of the day allows us to create space in our heads and our hearts for another way of being. I know that social media can be a really important and safe space for many people to continue to connect and feel part of community, breaking down a sense of isolation and loneliness, but if we’re on there all the time, it can really fill our heads with unhelpful traffic and noise, which stops us being able to enter rest. As we rest, we are invited to spend our time differently – to do things that are good for the soul. You could take time to create, write, read, sing, dance, pray, go for a gentle walk, cook, sit round a table and build Lego or do jigsaws with others or on your own. There is no need to accumulate new things, what can you make do with or mend? What old or new hobbies might you rediscover or pick up? How about deliberately choosing not to get a thousand and one jobs done around the house or not rushing into a new decorating project. Just stop for a while, slow-down and rest.

 

REFLECT

When we consider the far reaching potential effects of a global pandemic, like the one we find ourselves in, it causes us to pause, notice more the interconnectedness of human life across the world and the utter fragility of our systems. It should cause us to notice more deeply the injustices upon which we build our society, the insecurity of work and the implications of global capitalism on the poorest in our communities and indeed our environment. During this time, we do well to reflect on what we are learning together. Birds are heard singing for the first time in years in Wuhan – a city usually thick with smog. Destructive air pollution has reduced by over 25% in China and Italy. The canals are cleaner than ever in Venice and global air travel has decreased significantly. Of course, we notice some of the worst bits of our humanity – driven by fear – and some selfishness. But we also see the indomitable human spirit at work – huge acts of love, courage, kindness and generosity. There are amazing offers to help and support with home schooling and teachers are going above and beyond their usual brilliance, thinking creatively about how best to enable their students to thrive. Healthcare workers continue to put themselves at risk and pour themselves into the work of healing. Voluntary food clubs to feed the hungry, delivery services for shopping and medication, community support schemes and the ongoing service of the most vulnerable in our society – it’s amazing. This ability to re-organise ourselves, to connect together differently, to make wider political and economic decisions and find a way to be that feels more wholesome should give us plenty not only to be grateful for but to reflect on about why we put so much energy into maintaining the usual status quo. What good things are we noticing and learning?

 

RE-IMAGINE

What might be possible together? Can we imagine a world with less commutes and more digital connection? Doesn’t it seem more possible to cut global emissions a great deal more quickly, when we’re forced to focus our attention? Could we work and earn differently and be more generous with wages and leave, so that we don’t see so many people left in such a vulnerable state. If we can find the ability to be so kind to each other at such a time as this – why not more so all the time? As we’ve recognised the fragility of our lives and existence, are the grudges we hold worthwhile? Are we able to forgive and reconnect? Might we adopt a way of life that is more about sharing and regenerating than grabbing all we can? Isn’t community one of the most delicious and richest of experiences? How can we build more of it? Can you sniff an economics that is more about wellbeing than profit and a politics that is more about connection and participation in our life together than centralised sovereignty? How about an education system that doesn’t treat our children like fodder for the machine, but invests in their ability to build a beautiful future. Have you seen how relationship really could be the foundation of our public services? So how might we think differently about our governance structures and the way we organise ourselves – think ‘Radical Help’ (Hilary Cottam), ‘Doughnut Economics’ (Kate Raworth) and ‘All Our Welfare’ (Peter Beresford) – plus many more. Can you imagine a society in which we really put the wellbeing of all people and the planet at the heart of what we do? If so….why would we continue with a way of being together which is so detrimental to both?

 

RESET

Our invitation, therefore, is to reset. This invitation comes from the earth itself, from our deepest longings, and from the source of all love and life itself. We don’t have to continue living in the story of selfishness and scarcity. We have shown ourselves that there is a more ancient and wonderful story of connectedness, restoration and hope, to which we all belong. We don’t have to go back to how it has been. Step by step, we can use this ‘kairos’ moment to walk into a new future together. A future in which we heal our divides and regenerate our planet, forgive our deep, historical wrongdoings, rebuild our ruins and restore our relationships; do away with injustice and create reconciliation. It’s time to reset. Are you ready to press the button?

 

Here is a beautiful poem, by Kitty O’Meara, to help us rest, reflect, re-imagine and rest.

 

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Corona Virus Update

As the national guidance changes, here in the UK, I’m updating my advice and practical suggestions of what we can do to be prepared, stay well, support each other and be good neighbours. I hope you find this next instalment helpful!

 

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Corona Virus Advice – Time to be Serious

Corona Virus or Covid-19 is not something we can be laid back about. We have to take mild symptoms of cough or fever really seriously. I hope you find this video helpful:

 

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How Does Change Happen? – Part 3

In the last two blog posts on this subject, I’ve looked at the work of John Paul Lederach and Valerie Fournier in thinking about how change occurs in society. I’m returning to Lederach in this blog, to think about the next phase in social change – something, he calls “anchor points”.

 

Anchor points are people, places or communities to whom change has happened and who are on with the journey of starting alternative moral economies/experiments. They become anchors when they are rooted in a geography or set of relationships, which gives them a sense of longevity and consistency. Once infected with the virus that things cannot remain as they are, an anchor becomes a place where people dig deep, willing to make mistakes, to try new things, to fail early, to learn and to try again. This mixture of humility, bravery and innovation is vital if change is really going to begin to embed.

 

It begins to become really exciting, when anchor points connect. When a few people or communities within a given geography or inspired by the same hopes begin to connect, then the anchoring becomes even stronger. The space between the anchors, which some call transitional space or liminal space, becomes the place for strengthening and encouragement, but also the substantial reality in which the change begins to take place. My friend, Michael Schiffman sees it this way: “It’s like the emergent social change is of a particular colour. The hope of the social movement is not to take over the current institutions and try and lead them differently. Rather, the colour of the movement begins to flow into everything around it – communities, institutions, all facets of society. As it does, it begins to transform those spheres by infusing and diffusing its colour into and through them.” The change begins to happen almost unconsciously – and this is where one of two things can begin to occur: transformation or resistance.

Hitting against resistance is tiring and can feel intimidating. This is why anchor points need each other so much. They must hold each other, have each other’s backs, speak well of one another, believe the best and hold onto hope. They must continue to do their own inner work and stay true to the values which they hold. AND importantly (as Hilary Cottam taught me), they must learn what they are saying no to, as much as what they are saying yes to. As they do this, they will find fresh opportunities to bring change. My friend Roger MItchell talks about this around the concept of ‘Kenarchy’, which literally means the emptying out of power, or self-giving, others-empowering love. In his work, ‘church, gospel and empire’, he looks at love as an antidote to power. Social change, he argues, happens through a three-fold pattern of subversion, submission and substantiation. In other words, social change happens, as per Fournier, through outrage and challenging the inevitability of current social norms (subversion); creating moral alternative economies – but situated in the current realities – not somewhere or somehow separately (submission); and then making those things real in that context and thereby giving them grit/substance in every day life – anchoring them in communities (substantiation).

Once a social movement becomes substantiated it really begins to effect wider change. It has found enough momentum to begin to saturate it’s context with a new possibility that is no longer a dream on the horizon but a truly alternative way of being in the here and now. At this point it will either be resisted more forcefully, in which case, it has to become even more resilient and anchored, or it will begin to change and effect every level of society, including the very important arena of policy and governance. The biggest danger to the movement at this point is that it becomes subsumed, commodified and severely compromised by those powers who do not really want it  bring about radical change and therefore alter it enough to still look a bit like radical change, but in actual fact simply ensure it serves the status quo, but in another guise! Resist and keep on loving!

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Facing Death

My friend, Lucy Watts, is dying. She knows that her beautiful life will be cut short by the condition which she lives with. Death is something we often find hard to talk about, but it is one thing we can be certain of. How do you feel about death? What are your hopes and fears? Have you thought about what would happen to those around you if you died quite suddenly and unexpectedly? Or if you are facing death yourself, in a very real way, have you thought about your wishes, in terms of care, where you might like to die, and what would be important to you about your funeral? Have you instructed a Power of Attorney? Do they know what you would and wouldn’t want? These are certainly not easy conversations to have, but I am so grateful to Lucy for telling her story and how it has given her the determination to really live:

 

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Creating a Culture of Joy – some practical ideas!

I am hugely passionate about how we create great cultures in which to live and work. One particular thing I love is building a culture of joy! My friends Rachel Pilling and Dan Wadsworth have come up with a super easy way in which to practically build joy in work, through this simple but excellent idea of 15-30. This is the magic that happens when clinicians and managers work together. Watch it, if you work in the NHS then sign up and get involved and if you work outside the NHS – the idea is entirely replicable in any other part of life. By you going the extra mile now, you could save your friend a marathon….Building joy in work is, according to the IHI, the most important foundation on which to build a safe, sustainable and excellent health and care system. With staff morale as low as it is, let’s do what we can to promote joy in the daily grind. Here are Dan and Rachel explaining more in their excellent TEDxNHS talk – well worth your time!:

 

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