Care For Non-COVID Health Issues During The Pandemic
The unexpected surge of the COVID-19 pandemic brought about challenges in the medical field that’d last for a long time. With the increasing number of patients getting admitted to many hospitals and health facilities every day, one can’t deny the severity of the deadly virus. However, the COVID patients have been affected by such changes and the non-COVID ones.
Fortunately, many technological innovations and alternatives have been utilized over the past year to tackle non-COVID health issues, including telemedicine and telehealth services. Although these services were established long before the pandemic, they’ve contributed significantly to the easier access of medical services and care for non-COVID health issues like mental health and other illnesses.
With the fast-rising popularity of these health services, people can now seek the care they need without compromising their health and safety. If you know someone suffering from similar diseases and having difficulty seeking medical care, reading this article may give you better ideas.
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Must-Know Tips For Faster Recovery
It’s never easy dealing with any type of illness, physical or mental. More so, people struggling with psychological disturbances may find it hard to get through their condition, especially with the lack of access to medical care. Luckily, there are plenty of available options one can consider to acquire mental healthcare services. For instance, they could seek mental health treatment San Diego offers or go to trusted facilities and centers. Also, they may consider setting appointments online for more accessible consultation.
Apart from that, here’s a list of some simple yet efficient ways one can consider to obtain appropriate care for non-COVID health issues during the pandemic:
1. Create A Recovery Plan
When it comes to helping someone seek proper medical care for their condition and making them recover faster, one of the essential aspects you can advise them on includes establishing a recovery plan. A patient’s recovery scheme consists of short-term and long-term goals, which they aim to achieve within a specific timeframe. Care For Non-COVID Health Issues During The Pandemic
In some cases, people with mental disorders may have difficulty motivating themselves to pursue recovery because they lack a commitment to their objectives. Whether it’s a COVID-related illness or not, it’d be better to encourage patients to make a recuperation plan first.
Their recovery plan should also focus on bolstering their biological, psychological, emotional, mental, social, and spiritual aspects for optimal health. Or, you can also accompany them to an expert who can assist them with their concerns and help them formulate efficient treatment strategies that best suit their condition. Through this, the patients will guide and driven to undergo a series of interventions and medical treatments to return to their old, healthy selves.
2. Determine The Causes Of Their Condition
Getting through a specific illness or disease can be extremely difficult if one doesn’t know what they’re dealing with. People with lesser knowledge about their conditions or refuse to acknowledge them could also find such tasks challenging.
To get proper medication and treatment for non-COVID health concerns, one may help their loved one identify the causes of such conditions. For instance, people with mental illnesses may display unusual behavior and abnormal thinking during the onset of their disease. They may also exhibit bizarre patterns of manners and demeanor, which could indicate their condition.
Regardless of whether it’s related to their physical or mental aspects, it’s essential to talk to your loved ones if you’re starting to notice those red flags. You may also ask them about their problems and help them determine the potential causes and risk factors of their illness. By doing that, you can help them get the appropriate care they need and identify suitable treatment options for them.
3. Motivate Them To Seek Professional Help
The earlier one addresses their condition, the greater chances they could recover from it. Although some people may tend to disregard the sudden changes or symptoms they notice upon themselves, it’s crucial to consult a doctor or a physician to avoid compromising one’s health.
Suppose you’re starting to notice the drastic changes in your loved one’s behavior, patterns of thinking, and personality. In that case, you can consider referring them to skilled psychologists, psychiatrists, or therapists who can help resolve their concerns. On the other hand, if it’s related to one’s overall health and wellness, you can accompany or refer them to a doctor or a physician.
This aspect allows you to monitor your loved one’s condition, raise awareness about their situation’s severity, and encourage them to seek professional care. Knowing their condition’s risk factors or triggers could also speed up the diagnosis and determine the appropriate treatments. Lastly, your awareness of early signs of physical and psychological disturbances could enhance their recovery.
4. Try Online Consultation
For people suffering from non-COVID health issues, seeking medical care has been challenging, especially with the looming threat of the disease. This is particularly true in the cases of patients with mental problems. Since the continuous implementation of quarantine protocols and stricter safety measures, people are limited to crowded places and are advised to stay at their homes.
Hospitals have also been firmer with their rules on hospital admission procedures. Typically, non-COVID health concerns advised to consult online medical services. Some are also opting for online consultations with psychologists and physicians to discuss mental health concerns and issues.
Opportunely, numerous technological advances have been created to address both the physiological and psychological aspects of the patients and promote optimal patient care. For example, online consultations serve as effective mechanisms to help primary care providers to acquire relevant inputs into a patient’s care treatment. Through this, they won’t have to go personally to hospitals and lessen the risks of contracting the disease there.
Aside from being a faster alternative, this also helps reduce the burden of comorbid mental health conditions and other related illnesses. Additionally, numerous healthcare facilities and centers maximize the use of e-mail, videoconference, telephone, and smartphone apps to connect with patients.
5. Seek Telehealth Services
The COVID-19 pandemic affected the people’s usual way of living disrupted global practices, and significantly impacted their mental health. Specifically, many researchers believe that the ongoing health crisis, financial insecurity, fear, and unemployment are the most prominent factors behind the increasing numbers of people with mental illnesses.
As the access to social connection, education engagement, physical activities, and health services has been limited, people become more susceptible to psychological disturbances. This also led to the unprecedented deterioration in people’s mental health. Opportunely, patients can now access appropriate care from medical experts through telehealth services. This pertains to technological advances to promote patient care and provide evidence-based services. Care For Non-COVID Health Issues During The Pandemic
To know more about telehealth services and how they could benefit non-COVID patients, continue reading the section below:
- Intrinsically, telehealth refers to electronic information and telecommunication technologies to enhance client-provider interactions during the pandemic. This offers alternatives and programs to promote clients’ physical and mental health and boost in-person treatments via telemedicine.
- Telehealth is mainly grouped into two-way communication through audio and equipment (telemedicine) and asynchronous patient-doctor interactions through other forms of technology.
- Telehealth services and telemedicine deliver premium quality care across behavioral health and primary care settings. Also, these services focus on giving advanced access to screening, assessment, treatment methods, recovery support, crisis assistance, and medication management to clients through synchronous and asynchronous procedures.
- Apart from that, clients may also learn about clinical assessments, client education, symptom management, and treatment reminders that could effectively aid in their condition.
6. Transfer Relevant Information To Providers
Aside from online consultations, patients can now send their basic information and medical background to medical practitioners and providers as part of their diagnostic procedure. To do that, they may either store or forward medical information, including health histories, to doctors and physicians to get checked and assisted by them.
Or, they may opt for remote client monitoring, which focuses on collecting medical and health data of clients from distant places and delivering them to health facilities or centers. Lastly, patients may consider transferring their basic info to doctors through mobile apps, tablets, computers, and smartphones.
7. Utilize Web-Conferencing Platforms
Seeking professional help isn’t as easy as it may seem. Patients have to undergo a series of protocols and procedures before seeing a doctor, especially with the current situation. Now more than ever, they find patient admission procedures stricter and more difficult to deal with. With such challenges, it’s a great relief for patients to use web-conferencing platforms to contact physicians and doctors.
Aside from that, they could also practice proper dissemination of information with medical practitioners through synchronous methods. With web-conferencing platforms, including telephone, text messages, video calls, mobile apps, client portals, patients may also create their treatment processes or care plan using technological innovations.
To better help someone recover from their condition, you can learn about the proper measures to take to better contact providers and medical practitioners, including utilizing interactive and passive methods of communication. They may also consider using symptom management tracking, sensors, modules, and peripherals to better record client data.
8. Be A Part Of Their Recovery Journey
Recovering from a specific illness is never easy. The journey to the recovery of many patients often differs depending on many factors. These factors include the severity of their condition, the will to recover, and the amount of support they get from their loved ones. That being said, family members, friends, or loved ones hold a vital role in the overall outcome of someone’s recovery.
For instance, people struggling with psychological disturbance may experience relapses and episodes, impairing their decision-making and logical reasoning. This may also happen to people with health diseases or addictions since they’re prone to withdrawal symptoms.
The best way to help someone get through their condition is by being with them throughout the recovery process. In some cases, patients might need medical assistance and the care of their families. Allotting some of your time to conduct interventions or family therapy sessions could significantly make them feel your love and support. Plus, it could boost their morale and speed up their recovery.
9. Introduce Them To A Support Group
Due to the overwhelming impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and ever-present social challenges, many experts believe mental health has been put at stake, and everyone has become more at risk for mental disorders and other related illnesses.
Research shows that the prevalence of anxiety and depression has increased and even doubled in many countries. The higher rates of mental distress were correlated with several factors, including high unemployment rates, poverty, and strict confinement measures.
If you want to help someone heal from their condition during these trying times, it could help to boost their morale. In some cases, people living with mental disorders and other non-COVID health issues need medical services and support from their loved ones to recover faster. Rather than fighting their illnesses alone, the presence of a support group may help them pursue recuperation.
The support group effectively provides unconditional love and support to the patients through online meetings and interventions. The people from a support group often deal with the same conditions, so they can empathize better with your loved one and realize the value of self-care. Lastly, a support group could encourage them to seek professional help.
Key Takeaways
It’s never easy dealing with illnesses and diseases, more so if you have limited access to proper medical care. Since the surge of the COVID-19 crises, its patients suffered from the consequences and the non-COVID ones. Mainly, seeking professional care has been challenging due to stricter hospital rules and confinement measures.
Fortunately, various technological innovations contributed to more accessible access to medical care. If you know someone who’s been struggling with non-COVID health issues like mental illnesses, you can consider accompanying them to near mental facilities and centers to tackle their condition. Or, you can also encourage them to seek professional help, offer moral support, and be a part of their recovery processes.
Helping your loved ones get through their condition and achieve optimal health could be much more accessible through these simple acts of compassion.
