Despite a last-minute Zoom password change, more than 150 people tuned into the Bowen Island Health Centre Foundation’s COVID-19 town hall Saturday morning.
The first in a series of three panel discussions about coping with the virus saw six Bowen professionals offering their knowledge in different fields: Dr. Susanne Schloegl, Bowen’s primary care physician; Dr. Lloyd Purdy, a physician at a community health centre in Vancouver; registered psychologist Dr. Gayle Goldstein; registered physiotherapist Sandy Logan; Rod Marsh, chair of the Community Economic Development Committee (CEDC) and Colleen O’Neil program director of the Caring Circle. Foundation board member Steve Mitchell moderated the event.
The following are highlights from the hour-long discussion.
Physicians move to virtual visits
When asked how her Artisan Square practice looks different nowadays, Schloegl said that until two weeks ago she hadn’t done a single virtual visit, and now, that’s mostly all she’s doing.
“There's very few situations where I've had to see people in person and I have done house calls on people who are housebound who needed to be seen but most things that need to be dealt with are being dealt with virtually. And that's been a bit of a learning curve.”
Schloegl said that people need to call instead of walking through the door. “We need to be aware of who's coming in and whether that's appropriate and what kind of protection we need to have for them and for us.”
Among the things that don’t need to be done right now are routine screenings like pap smears and routine follow-ups like baby visits (but immunizations are still important.) Other things can be done virtually, like medication renewals and test result follow-ups.
Chronic, unchanged issues can probably wait but “anything that's acute and new and undiagnosed, certainly can warrant at least a virtual call, if not a visit, depending on what the problem is,” said Schloegl.
Reach out if experiencing increased anxiety or depression symptoms
Goldstein encouraged people experiencing an increase in anxiety or depression symptoms to talk to their physician. “Under the current pandemic, I'm seeing a lot of people that have that have underlying mental health challenges having an increase in their symptoms or what we might call relapse,” said Goldstein. “Some of it is very just normal given this current situation, but it is an underlining factor that can make things worse.”
“It's important for people to access help,” she said.
Dealing with dread
Mitchell asked how people can keep from being overwhelmed by feelings of dread.
Goldstein indicated that people should look to what they have control over.
“What you do have control over is your daily routine. You do have control over reaching out to other people, you do have control over modulating your sleep hygiene. You have control over what you eat,” she said.
“We need to keep reminding ourselves as odd as it might seem, what has stayed the same,” she said. “And the more you can keep to similar rituals, the more grounded you will feel.”
“I think it is critical that everybody gets fresh air and moves,” said Goldstein. “All the time people are spending on the internet and the computer, our brain is getting overexposed to blue light, it's getting overexposed to catastrophic information.
“We need to balance that off with positive messages,” said Goldstein. “That includes not just to other people, but also inside of our own head.”
Goldstein said that a very common anxiety-producing statement these days is “why am I not being productive?”
“It's very important to understand that the brain gets frozen with anxiety and so we need to create a frontal cortex that happens outside of us,” said Goldstein. “Sometimes that means getting external triggers, setting little timers, 20 minutes of cleaning the kitchen, 20 minutes to start a paint job.
“It's very important to prompt ourselves because initiation taking is the thing that's impaired by anxiety and worry and dread.”
Concerns and optimism among businesses
Marsh and the CEDC have been holding Wednesday morning Zoom meetings with local businesses. “We're hearing concerns but also optimism,” said Marsh.
He said businesses are adapting to the pandemic, albeit in some cases at a slower case. Marsh also said later in the meeting that if it’s possible and safe to continue contracts and work with local businesses, the optimism and financial support are much-needed.
Fear keeping people from reaching out to physicians
Purdy noted that fear is keeping people from reaching out for help from their physicians. “In a sense, it may even be easier to see a doctor now than it was before,” said Purdy. “If you're concerned about your health, if you're concerned about curbing symptoms, and you don't know what to do, and get in touch with [your physician], they'll be really happy to speak to you.”
Lots of offers of help
O’Neil said that while the Caring Circle’s doors are closed, she’s working from home. She’s lately not hearing so much with people requiring services but rather people wanting to help. “So that's kind of sweet and nice.”
She noted local resources for staying connected while regular social events are cancelled –– the Flatten the Curve Facebook group, the NERP program, Chris Corrigan’s list of people who will talk to you, the virtual coffee shop and online exercise classes with local gyms and studios.
“I'm also working with the professional counselors on Bowen to see if we can figure out a way that they might offer their professional services maybe at a reduced rate or maybe a shorter appointment time, which might be less expensive for people,” said O’Neil.
Not currently testing the general population
When asked if people should or can report if they believe they’ve had COVID-19 and recovered, Purdy said that public health isn’t collecting that data at the moment. “They really have shifted their strategy quite significantly in the last two weeks,” said Purdy. “From a strategy of testing to contain, where you identify any particular case, and then you contain that case and track down all of their contacts and contain all of their contacts…to mitigation strategy of just telling anybody with symptoms to isolate themselves, and putting all their resources and energy into the most vulnerable in society.”
“There's lots and lots of work going on for long term-care facilities and there's teams that are in the Downtown Eastside and we're tracking down any kind of clusters or outbreaks amongst the most vulnerable homeless population or those living in really less than satisfactory situations that can't self-isolate.”
When asked who they can reach out to if they live on Bowen and don’t have a family doctor, Schloegl said anyone can call and talk to her office and they can arrange a virtual appointment. “You don't have to be my patient,” she said.
While Schloegl’s office had been the site of on-island testing, they’re no longer testing the general public.
Purdy clarified that there are exceptions when it comes to people likely to be hospitalized or go to hospital: people with severe illnesses, pregnant women in their third trimester, those on hemodialysis and those with frequent contact with the hospital.
“If you get mild symptoms, they want to know,” said Purdy. “It's not just to know for your case, but because of the fact your coming into the hospital, they need to protect the vulnerable patients in hospital.”
Schloegl said that while there is testing available through her office, it is slower than on the mainland. “I suppose somebody who is mobile and able to can present to one of the urgent primary care centers to have testing done there where the results would be available more quickly,” she said.
No data for Bowen COVID cases
When asked how many COVID cases there’s been on Bowen, Schloegl said that she doesn’t have the public health data for that. “I don't know that we have those numbers since we're not testing the general public,” she said. “Unless somebody has been hospitalized.”
“The best plan is to assume that anybody could be contagious and act accordingly.”
Coming up:
April 11 at 10 a.m. “How is the municipality managing our Covid-19 response?”. Panelists Mayor Gary Ander, Councillor Maureen Nicholson, and BIM Emergency Program Coordinator Jennifer McGowan. People can join the call by going to bit.ly/BIHCF-TH Questions should be emailed to townhall@bowenhealthcentre.com.
April 18: “Keeping ourselves (and our families) balanced in the time of Covid” with psychologist Dr. Gayle Goldstein, psychiatric nurse Maureen Mackey and psychiatrist Dr. Stephen Kiraly.
