A day in the life of a self-isolating Social Prescriber: day five

Hi again, I’m Megan, the Social Prescribing PCN Link Worker for Holderness Health at the Humber Teaching NHS Foundation Trust and welcome to day five of my daily blog. This blog will hopefully offer some support and information to anyone who may be in a similar situation to me, and give insight into how I am trying to maintain as much routine as possible.

Day 5 was off to a great start! I woke up to my Alexa playing Dancing Queen by ABBA – I mean honestly can you get a better alarm song? I think not! I love to have an upbeat song as my alarm…for some reason it prepares me to have a positive day.

Breakfast this morning was a bowl of fresh berries and bananas with some low fat Greek yogurt, this is one of my favourites, alongside my big mug of coffee, of course!

I always log on to my laptop around 8:20amto check my emails and try to get as much admin done as possible! This can really vary from day to day and I like to make sure I am up to date before proceeding with the day’s tasks.

 I then began to call my Community Link clients and, to be transparent, the running theme at the moment is the worry and anxiety surrounding COVID-19. People are worried about their families, friends, they are worried about how it might affect them financially, their jobs, childcare and so many other things, on top of contracting the virus themselves. This only highlights how important it is to protect not only physical, but also mental health, and it is vital to provide our service to the community throughout these tough times.

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Just before lunch, I dialled into my daily Skype call with the team, which notifies me of any new updates or information which can be distributed to our clients, which might be able to offer some support in term of local food banks, delivery services or befriending volunteers. One of the key things we need to support during this pandemic is wellbeing, as working from home or self-isolating can be very lonely and we need to work together to help solve this.

At some point throughout the morning I found myself really craving something sweet, so I caved and practically inhaled a delicious blueberry muffin. It’s important to treat yourself every now and again!

For lunch, I fancied something hearty, which usually means I would prepare a soup from scratch (tomato and red pepper is my fave!) but I didn’t have the ingredients today so I settled for the classic Heinz Tomato with a nice large class of iced water.

My top tip of the day is: try to use this time to learn a new skill! Not everyone necessarily has extra time during this period, but for those of us who are at home during isolation and are saving time on the commute or minimised working hours, I think it’s a great opportunity to try something new. I decided I was going to learn a new language…I’ll let you know how that goes!

Day 5 was a good day – I made sure to take breaks and get some fresh air for a couple of minutes in the garden. This may sound silly but I really have never appreciated the cold crisp air quite like I do now! 

I’ll check in with you tomorrow to let you know how I’m getting on!

Thanks for reading J

Megan.