Thread: Pandemic Positives - good things to come out of it

Originally Posted by Slave

So if I have a goatee and I’m white and overweight I’m a redneck?

I think the ticksheet is a bit longer than that basic set of requirements

-- Flannelette shirt
-- Pickup truck
-- Old grog bottle to blow hillbilly tunes on
-- Has Maw and Paw
-- Wife is related in ways other than marriage
-- Guns are on display
-- Missing teeth

There are other optional requisites, that create various sub-species :
-- Super huge, like tank
-- Super skinny, like sapling
-- Mullet, crewcut or high-and-tight
-- Flys a flag on the veranda (or porch, depending on the grandness of the residence!)
-- Outdoor "fire" (a hole in the ground with a casual lining of bricks at the edge)
-- Rusting wheel-less cars in the front yard (that are sure to be "done up" one day)

Slave, ignore FenceFurniture, he's a bit of a tease.

Many years ago I joked with friends that one day I would sit in my study or office and consult to patients around the world via a TV screen the size of a wall.

Five weeks ago I came to the realisation that I could not see patients in my office as, being 70, I am vulnerable and at significant risk for infection. I closed my clinical psychology practice for two weeks to prepare for and set up a Telehealth practice. 15 hours/day including weekends (no workshop time). Over the past three weeks I have been consulting in front of an iMac. Now down to 12 hours/day. (I am flipping exhausted! - roll on the long weekend. Saturday winding down in the workshop).

It has been good to see Medicare and health funds come to the party and support everyone.

Once the die has been cast, can we go back? Telehealth was such a small service in the past provided for those in remote areas. Now it provides for access in the next suburb and in the next state. While face-to-face work remains the heart of assessments and treatment, Telehealth is going to reach out to so many more who are limited either because of distance or mobility.

Regards from Perth

Derek

Now that you mention it Derek, I don't know how I didn't think of this before - days or weeks ago when Bob was first talking about it. Some years ago (5-7) a friend of my partner was doing psychiatric sessions via Skype for people in far western NSW, amongst other locations. I had a brief chat with him about the future of it - I thought it was a wonderful idea, and he was basically of the opinion that whilst it wasn't as hands on as a physical face to face, it was probably 85% or more as good, and infinitely better than nothing at all!

I've wondered about the efficacy of teleconferencing. A very long time ago I read three books on non-verbal communication including the seminal Alan Pease tome. Negotiation was a key element of my work at that time and seeing clues in opponents' messages proved invaluable. I started experimenting with ideas like invading people's space etc. and the results were slightly horrifying. Eventually I stopped because it felt like cold blooded manipulation; which it was.

Cutting to the present topic, my employees frequently travel within Sydney and interstate to call on customers and occasionally overseas. Internet meetings are becoming normalised in the current crisis so the sales guys are likely to spend less time in the car or the air down the track. An improvement in efficiency and sustainability.

Families are spending more time with each other although that could be a double edged sword in some cases.

Politicians are actually cooperating with each other (!!!) and many ideologies have been set aside, at least for the duration.

The LNP are actually considering real tax reform with Ken Henry's excellent review being dusted off.

The vast majority of Australians understand the gravity of the situation and willingly complying. We are revelling in our unity and its very satisfying outcome compared to most other countries.

We're all saving money by spending less in all those places which are now closed. Another double edged sword.

Life has become simpler and some of us will appreciate that.

Last and certainly not least, my shed time has increased enormously.

mick

Originally Posted by derekcohen

Many years ago I joked with friends that one day I would sit in my study or office and consult to patients around the world via a TV screen the size of a wall.

Five weeks ago I came to the realisation that I could not see patients in my office as, being 70, I am vulnerable and at significant risk for infection. I closed my clinical psychology practice for two weeks to prepare for and set up a Telehealth practice. 15 hours/day including weekends (no workshop time). Over the past three weeks I have been consulting in front of an iMac. Now down to 12 hours/day. (I am flipping exhausted! - roll on the long weekend. Saturday winding down in the workshop).

It has been good to see Medicare and health funds come to the party and support everyone.

Once the die has been cast, can we go back? Telehealth was such a small service in the past provided for those in remote areas. Now it provides for access in the next suburb and in the next state. While face-to-face work remains the heart of assessments and treatment, Telehealth is going to reach out to so many more who are limited either because of distance or mobility.

My daughter has been going down that path (I've told her of you Derek!). She is working towards her qualification (its endless, Degress in Science and Psych, postgrad...masters...) and now uses her time to help those I'd describe as desperate*.

We talked of how to support her clients while separated. She spends a LOT of time with them, but since she can't be there all the time we talked about doing the video thing. It seems incredibly important. Normal people can handle being isolated at home for a while, its not too bad, we find outlets... but her clients, hooley dooley. They fly apart at the seams on day 3.

A suicide, another attempt (bloody serious), violence (a stabbing of a worker) and desperate woe at survival potential (imagine being isolated and incapacitated in a wheelchair, with brain damage). These people NEED contact. They NEED to be able to connect.

I think a very decent video chat may be an excellent way to get support to them "after hours".

Derek - honestly - I have no idea how you do what you do. It takes an incredibly special person.


* the stories are absolutely horrific. The unbelievable trauma, the inhumanity and sheer bastardy of the perpetrators is incomprehensible.

What I have discovered during the lockdown is just how supportive my family, friends and neighbours have been. Given a little extra time in their lives people do step up to what is most important; looking after each other.

When things ease off I don't expect this to continue to the same level, but I think something of it will remain with us as we return to the hurly-burly of our lives. I certainly will not be in any doubt about the care that is there when it is really needed.