Table 1.
Pandemic fatigue strategies table
| Author(s) | Article Title | Strategy |
|---|---|---|
| Fear from Personal Risk of Infection | ||
| Tannenbaum et al., 2015 | Appealing to fear: A meta-analysis of fear appeal effectiveness and theories | Strong or intense fear produces the greatest behaviour change only when people feel a sense of efficacy and vice-versa, with stronger self-efficacy reducing fear |
| Hou et al., 2020a, b | Self-efficacy and fatigue among non-frontline health care workers during COVID-19 outbreak: A moderated mediation model of posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms and negative coping | An important balancing act needs to be done internally regarding Covid-19 related fears to prevent the scenarios of people either feeling that the risk to their own and loved one's health are overblown (too little fear) or that their COVID-19 related fears are so present and invasive that their ability to successfully perform in these burdensome circumstances are severely impaired (too much fear) |
| Negative Visualization & Stress Appraisals | ||
| White et al., 2019 | Focusing on the future from afar: Self-distancing from future stressors facilitates adaptive coping | When we visualize potential negative outcomes related to COVID-19, we should mentally distance ourselves from what is happening now from what may happen in the future |
| Robertson & Codd, 2019 | Stoic philosophy as a cognitive-behavioral therapy | View potential negative Covid-19 related outcomes in terms of logical visualizations instead of emotional ones. Also attempt to reduce the vividness of our imaginations because that allows us to view potential future events in a more constructive manner |
| Psychological Flexibility | ||
| McCracken et al., 2021 | The role of psychological flexibility in the context of COVID-19: Associations with depression, anxiety, and insomnia | To increase psychological flexibility, currently existing brief training methods such as ACT self-help could be used |
| Optimizing Intimate Relationships | ||
| Prime et al., 2020 | Risk and resilience in family well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic | To reduce the potential burden of extended time in proximity, relationships in the family should be forged and maintained to offset the consequences of otherwise distressing situations such as loneliness. Also, collaboration within the family should take place to reach a shared framework of how COVID-19 related stressors impact each family member to increase compassion and understanding between household members |
| Promoting Early Childhood Independence | ||
| Swit & Breen, 2022 | Parenting During a Pandemic: Predictors of Parental Burnout | Interventions to promote early childhood independence may provide an avenue to protect parents from parental burnout by helping parents balance increased responsibilities that came with the pandemic. Parents can also themselves try and encourage independence in their children from a younger age |
| Enriched Online Connections | ||
| Rashid & McGrath, 2020 | Strengths-based actions to enhance wellbeing in the time of COVID-19 | Individuals can be advised to share digital literature (e.g., e-books) and content with people they know to make them happy, providing both a reason and topic to speak on |
| Nowland et al., 2018 | Loneliness and social internet use: pathways to reconnection in a digital world? | Healthy internet use can have a positive impact on feelings of loneliness when it is used to form new relationships or improve existing ones instead of avoiding socialization |
| Notable Virtual Interventions | ||
| Williams et al., 2021 | Interventions to reduce social isolation and loneliness during COVID-19 physical distancing measures: A rapid systematic review |
There are many potentially low-cost and digitally deliverable interventions are effective, including; mindfulness-based therapies, visual art discussions, laughter therapy, and Tai Chi Qigong meditation Variation in educational programme interventions demonstrated the positive effects of addressing social integration barriers and making friends had on loneliness which can be targeted directly in a therapeutic context |
| Healthy Use of Virtual Communication Platforms | ||
| Baker & Murphy, 2021 | Conducting Successful Virtual Meetings While Managing COVID Fatigue | To avoid negative outcomes of video communication, look at the camera, instead of other participants to establish direct eye contact and to create an authoritative response; keeping your background simple and clean, signalizing professionalism; staying mute when not speaking to avoid unfortunate interruptions and use slightly louder than normal voice when speaking, as if you are presenting to a larger audience; avoiding side activities, to stay fully engaged in the meeting; and asking to keep the video feed off while not speaking in order to eliminate distraction and overstimulation |
| Social Media | ||
| Shao et al., 2021 | Social Media and Emotional Burnout Regulation During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Multilevel Approach | To harness social media for positive coping, people should be educated on effective ways to improve emotional regulation and try to consume more emotionally positive or neutral content |
| Resilience | ||
| Crum et al., 2013; Crum & Lyddy, 2014 |
Rethinking stress: The role of mindsets in determining the stress response (2013) De-stressing stress: The power of mindsets and the art of stressing mindfully (2014) |
People should identify how their stressful experiences can be used to increase psychological toughness. This can take the form of helping people to reorganize priorities, identify what they can do and cannot do, and harness the stress response to focus on positive gains |
| Mindfulness Practice | ||
| Crum et al., 2013; Crum & Lyddy, 2014 |
Rethinking stress: The role of mindsets in determining the stress response (2013) De-stressing stress: The power of mindsets and the art of stressing mindfully (2014) |
When maladaptive coping mechanisms stem from an unhealthy mindset, viewing one’s stressors through a lens of mindfulness can allow that stress to be enhancing instead of debilitating. In the case of COVID-related anticipatory grief, this may mean acknowledging that the COVID-19 pandemic is causing concern for your loved ones, recognizing that it is normal to feel elevated stress related to the worry for loved one’s health during a pandemic, and finally identifying how the circumstances surrounding the stressors can be used as motivation to avoid the outcomes that are feared |
| Adaptive Distractions | ||
| Janson & Rohleder, 2017 | Distraction coping predicts better cortisol recovery after acute psychosocial stress | Individuals can distract themselves by focusing on things which they can control. Teaching people healthy coping strategies can help in mitigate the impact of negative symptomatic stress. Distraction and seeking emotional support have been shown as effective coping strategies in young adults such as students when they have limitations on their behaviour (e.g., physical distancing, staying home) |
| Reducing Burnout | ||
| Hou et al., 2020a, b | Self-efficacy and fatigue among non-frontline health care workers during COVID-19 outbreak: A moderated mediation model of posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms and negative coping | Limiting extended work hours, improving sleep quality, and increasing the use of social supports has been found to be related to improved self-efficacy during the Covid-19 pandemic |
| Reflection & Planning | ||
| Oettingen et al., 2015 | Self‐regulation of time management: Mental contrasting with implementation intentions | One can reflect on an activity they find meaningful and that can realistically be done under the current circumstances. Then you can formulate a clear plan regarding how you would start doing the activity tomorrow. Consider the necessary steps to ensure that you are ready to start pursuing the activity and to think about any obstacles that could stop you from doing this activity and how to overcome them, etc |
| Journaling & Meditation | ||
| Jackson Preston, 2022 | We must practice what we preach: a framework to promote well-being and sustainable performance in the public health workforce in the United States | Reflection through journaling and mediation can be powerful tools to address burnout by making it easier to identify stressors that can then addressed |
| Individualized Wellness Plans | ||
|
Stamm, 2005 Butler & McClain-Meeder, 2015 |
The ProQOL manual (the professional quality of life scale) Self-Care Starter Kit |
Developing an individualized wellness plan that integrates various burnout prevention strategies can make integration into daily life easier. Various free and easy to access tools exist that are designed to help people understand and develop their own personal wellness plan, such as the Professional Quality of Life (proQOL) Measure and University of Buffalo self-care starter kit |
| Psychoeducation | ||
| Hansel et al., 2020 | Behavioral Health and Response for COVID-19 | Psychoeducation can be used to identify maladaptive coping strategies such as substance abuse and provide healthier alternative strategies. These strategies may be reflected in messaging on financial coping, providing information on how to recognize symptoms of prolonged grief and trauma in oneself and others, and emphasizing the role of community support in coping while social distancing |
| Keeping Interventions Dynamic | ||
| Novacek et al., 2020 | Mental health ramifications of the COVID-19 pandemic for Black Americans: Clinical and research recommendations | The implementation and content of behavioral health interventions should be customized for different racio-cultural groups |
| Community Support and Resources | ||
| Mannarini et al., 2021 | The potential of psychological connectedness: Mitigating the impacts of COVID-19 through sense of community and community resilience | Mindful attention to available community resources such as local support groups can be used to build social solidarity that can be particularly beneficial to disadvantaged populations |
| Understanding the Needs of Marginalized Communities | ||
| Rashid & Di Genova, 2022 | Campus Mental Health Across Canada in 2020–21: The Ongoing Impact of COVID-19. Perspectives from student affairs leaders |
Providing individuals from diverse gender and sexual identities, marginalized communities, and those who have been living in stigmatizing environments without family support, benefit from the ability to explain their needs through non-traditional communication channels An additional concerted effort to recruit, retain, develop, and promote staff from diverse backgrounds provides a systemic way of making the voices of marginalized community members heard. This diversity should go beyond tokenism: staff should have sophisticated, practical, and flexible skills to offer members of marginalized communities science based factual information, but in culturally appropriate ways |
| Suicidality Recognition | ||
| Wasserman et al., 2020 | Adaptation of evidence‐based suicide prevention strategies during and after the COVID‐19 pandemic | Interventions can be introduced through education towards the awareness of suicide to identify help-seeking behaviours and reduce available means for suicide. Additionally, people can develop protective factors by attending support groups and skill-building interventions |
| Suicidality Prevention | ||
|
Efstathiou et al., 2022 Moutier, 2021 |
Suicidality and COVID-19: Suicidal ideation, suicidal behaviors and completed suicides amidst the COVID-19 pandemic (Review) Suicide Prevention in the COVID-19 Era: Transforming Threat Into Opportunity |
Methods of decreasing risk of suicidality include making crisis response systems more culturally contextualized, strengthening social support on which individuals can rely during times of crisis, addressing COVID-19 related increases in drug and alcohol use, reducing access to deadly means, reducing financial stress, and limiting exposure to negative media |