Welcome Wisdom

Gratitude During a Pandemic… a good practice

by Gail Arno, CMC, ECM Director of Care Management

As Aging Life Care Managers we have the opportunity, privilege, and responsibility to keep our client’s mental and physical well-being at the forefront of our service. We focus on our client’s health and overall well-being as our mandate and our commitment, particularly in this uncertain and challenging time of the ongoing pandemic we face. As such, our job broadens as we aim to support our clients physically and emotionally. We are charged with getting even more creative in mitigating the effects of isolation for those clients living at home or in residential care settings. We are more determined than ever to bring to our clients the medical resources they need to remain healthy. We are grateful to be given this opportunity and we find ourselves often practicing gratitude and counting our blessing. It is particularly important this time of year to practice gratitude both professionally and personally.

Gratitude is a human element and at times (trying times such as this pandemic we face) may take mindful effort and energy to embrace. Giving thanks is one of the oldest concepts in society, with this practice at the core of most traditions and religions. Thanksgiving is shortly upon us and this American secular holiday is centered on gratitude. While we can impact others by expressing gratitude directly, we can enhance our own well-being by articulating gratitude in written or spoken form, to ourselves and to those around us. Research shows gratitude strengthens relationships, improves health- both mentally and physically, affords better sleep, gives one greater resiliency, lowers fatigue, and encourages the development of patience, humility, and wisdom. How can one argue with gratitude when these are the benefits one gains?

This season, Elder Care Management is encouraging everyone to embrace the gratitude around them- we feel we are afforded this opportunity daily as we support our clients day in and day out with our services. We remind everyone to focus on the positives that exist and encourage you to share with those near and far who impact your lives. While there is no immediate panacea for these current ills we face, regularly practicing gratitude can help ease the uncertainty. Notice the goodness in our lives, not the things that are missing, and share that feeling with others. Let us all practice gratitude allowing us to generate a climate of positivity that both reaches inward and extends outward.