We smile through our eyes and in the way we chat to people
Katie Fox is one of our Occupational Therapists here at St Catherine’s. Here she tells us a bit more about what she’s been up to during the pandemic.
“My usual role before lockdown was working in our Living Well Centre with my colleagues, and most days working with my physio colleague, Lianne.
Things have changed slightly since lockdown as we’ve had to temporarily close our Living Well Centre to keep everyone safe, so we’ve been moving into different roles and working in different places. Life has changed quite a lot in recent weeks, and I’m now based on the wards Monday through Friday. So for me, although I’m doing a slightly different role to what I’d usually do, I’m still looking after my patients and their families in the same way that I would have done during the days in the Living Well Centre. The only differences really are the type of equipment that we must wear at the moment.
So I suppose for me, the change that I’ve had a little bit more difficulty with managing is the wearing of a mask because I’m so used to people seeing my face, my facial expressions and my smile. When I’m wearing a mask people can’t really see my smile. But the other day Lianne and I were talking to a patient’s family member, who was at the hospice visiting, about wearing masks and the other PPE we’re wearing to keep everyone safe, and they said they can still see that we’re looking after their loved ones in exactly the same way as before.
They told us they still see a smile from us because they can see that we smile through our eyes, and in the way that we chat to their loved ones. So, I just wanted to share that with you and say that we’re still working really hard here to do all we can for our patients and their families and carers.”
To view our virtual Living Well resources please click here or to make a donation to support Katie and her colleagues to continue to care for people in our community please click here
