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Talk about how the events of recent months have affected either your work or your ability to work.
Although I am still working full time, my job has been significantly impacted by COVID 19. I am a social worker who has my own practice, mainly seeing young adults and adults, particularly new moms, in an office that I rent. On 3/13, Governor Baker declared a State of Emergency for MA. At that time I needed to scramble to get a platform from which I could conduct counseling through tele-health. Shortly after the State of Emergency, Baker announced that all insurances operating in MA needed to reimburse tele-health at the same rate that in person visits are reimbursed, paving the way for health services, including mental health, to continue. Not being particularly adept at technology, getting a healthcare platform up and running was really challenging. ... Most of my clients chose to continue to meet with me virtually, although a few opted out for the time being.There were some snafus in the beginning, primarily due to weak internet, such as the sessions freezing so I was missing actual content of what people were saying, not being able to hear or sometimes see clients, etc. ... I greatly prefer working from home. The picture included above shows the view of the little desk I work from looking into my back yard, and most importantly, our cat Zelda who is a frequent companion while I am working. My dog sometimes visits, which is also fun for me, and I believe my clients, who have asked to meet him. I like the extra time working from home has created in each day, allowing time for more cooking, yoga, reading, seeing our pets and my husband. There are many unknowns, however - should I keep my office, which I am still paying rent for and not using? If I decide to go back to my office, when will it be safe to see clients, protecting their health and my own? Will insurances continue to cover tele-health after the pandemic subsides? If not, or at a reduced rate like pre-pandemic, would I make enough money to help pay the bills? Would my clients want to continue through tele-health, or would I lose most of them? Etc, etc. ...
July 6, 2020
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How is the coronavirus pandemic affecting your life right now? Tell us about your experiences, feelings, and thoughts.
School's out for summer! (I am a 1st grade teacher.) In our last staff meeting our principal asked us to list things we never want to hear or do again after this crazy year. Here's a partial list: I never want to hear these words/phrases again: *Asynchronous/ synchronous *Roomies and Zoomies (our way of addressing the two groups we were teaching - Roomies are in class with me and Zoomies are on the video conference screen) *You're muted! *Push your mute button *type it in the chat *pull up your mask... yes, over your nose too *don't touch me/him/that *social distance I never want to do these things again: *have two sets of students-some in my classroom and others at home *teach on Google Meet *refuse a hug from a 6 year old because of social distancing *tell kids they can't play near each other or help each other or share materials *sit kids at desks 6 ft apart and tell them they can't leave their desk area ALL DAY *teach everything in whole group lessons because we can't have socially-distanced reading groups or learning centers *go an entire year without meeting a student or their parent face to face *go an entire year with inviting family members of my students to the classroom/school *teach with a mask on (this one still might be around next school year though...) Covid-19 has really helped me see the beauty and importance in so much of what we did in the past, and made me long for just an average school day! I can't wait to get back to normal!
June 25, 2021