Article from Brenda Brunsdon, Occupational Health and Wellbeing Team Manager:

How did you feel last Saturday night when the Prime Minister announced the Second National Lockdown?  I was surprised by just how annoyed and dispirited I felt.  My life is structured well to deal with the challenges the coronavirus crisis represents but I know that many people face far greater pressures and adverse factors.  I am sure that the month long lockdown ahead is hanging over many people and weighing them down.

How can you best approach the new lockdown?  Pretty much in the same way as the last: try and keep some structure to your day; ensure that you don’t let work invade your personal space and time; keep up communications with friends and family as best you can; keep getting outside in the fresh air and sunshine; keep being active and exercising; don’t turn to self-medication by increasing the food, nicotine or alcohol intake; be kind to yourself and others in terms of expectations; don’t fret over what you can’t control.  Try reframing any despondent thoughts you might have.  Instead of thinking ‘It’s a whole, long month’, try ‘It’s only for one month’.

The Government is encouraging us to work from home as much as possible.  Many of us have remained working that way since the first lockdown started.  Working from home gives us flexibility.  There are doctors and health experts who are specifically encouraging us to take a longer lunch break so we can get out for fresh air and exercise in the middle of the day.  With the shorter days that late autumn brings, it’s more difficult to go out after dark and feel safe.  That is why the longer lunch break is such a good idea throughout this second lockdown.  It might not be possible every day, due to either work commitments or the weather, but it’s still possible to make it a priority, whenever possible.  Sunshine gives us that all important vitamin D; exercise is good for physical and mental health; a break in the working day is researched to increase creativity and productivity; it will help against symptoms associated with Seasonal Affective Disorder.  These are all excellent reasons to work flexibly and get out and exercise in the middle of the day.  It doesn’t have to be highly strenuous; a good walk will do.  It’s surprising how quickly you build up your stamina.

There is research published by the Mental Health Foundation (MHF) which found that most people (64% of those researched) are coping well with the coronavirus crisis, including the need to lockdown.  You can read the full detail in the link below; it is a very interesting report.   It does, however, highlight that people with a pre-existing mental health problem have been less likely to cope well the demands of the coronavirus crisis.

If you are struggling from a mental health perspective, remember all the support put in place for staff by the University.  This link will take you to the Employee Assistance Programme (EAP); details to log on are USERNAME: uokent |PASSWORD: university; the Freephone number for the service is 0808 168 2143.  If your home issues are impacting on your ability to work then discuss with your manager or contact HR or OH.  Corporate Comms publish the EAP’s webinar schedules each week.  All of these, for current and previous weeks, can be found on the University’s Staff Health and Wellbeing website; this also has physical and mental health information including past blog posts.

Useful links

‘Resilience across the UK during the coronavirus pandemic’: assessment of the research, ‘Coronavirus: mental health in the pandemic,’, led by the MHF in collaboration with University of Cambridge, Swansea University, the University of Strathclyde and Queen’s University Belfast

‘How to look after your mental health during the coronavirus outbreak’ on MHF website

‘Facing a winter during the coronavirus pandemic’ on MHF website

‘UK employers told to allow for ‘hugely beneficial’ long lunch break to cope with lockdown’; by Aurora Bosotti on express.co.uk

‘7 ways to support your mental health during lockdown’ on mentalmovement.co.uk

‘”This too shall pass”: Mental health tips for lockdown two’; on shropshirestar.com

‘Lockdown in the dark brings so many new fears and challenges’; by Megan Murray on stylist.co.uk

‘Pandemic, Lockdown & Mental Health and Wellbeing’ by Tina Abena Oforiwa on YouTube.  This is a longer clip than I use but it is very accessible, articulate and comprehensive.  So, for those who prefer watching a video to reading an article, it could be very helpful!

Although sport and fitness facilities are currently closed during the national lockdown, the Kent Sport Physiotherapy Clinic remains open for essential services. We are currently offering face-to-face physiotherapy and some referral appointments, including exercise and occupational health referrals. Our staff follow the latest guidance on safety and are fully prepared to see you in a Covid-secure environment.

You’ll also be able to book an online consultation with Vicky Annis, the Clinic Manager, if you’re not able to make it to the Sports Centre. Each session lasts approximately 20 minutes, and you can choose from a variety of online methods including Skype, Zoom, Microsoft Teams, WhatsApp, or a simple phone call.

“I just wanted to say a big thank you for taking the time to see me and advise me on what I might do to reduce the discomfort in my back. And also, thank you for these fantastic links! I’m so much better now and regularly stretch whilst working from home.”

Sameena

See our Frequently Asked Questions for information on booking, clinic hours and safety measures.

Being kind to yourself and others is something we should all practise and a message that’s even more important during the current pandemic and lockdown.

World Kindness Day is celebrated annually on 13 November (Friday 13 November this year), and is marked by good deeds and pledging acts of kindness to make the world a better place. In the UK, Kindness Day UK was launched in 2010 and is organised by Kindness UK, a not-for-profit organisation.

If you wish to take part, you can pledge a good deed or share your acts of kindness on the Kindness UK website.

Here are some suggestions on how you can show kindness during lockdown (and remember being kind is not just for the day, but always):

1. Thank a colleague for their work by using the ‘Praise’ button on Microsoft Teams or sending a ‘thank you’ email to a staff member who deserves recognition.

2. Invite your friends list to ‘like’ the page of a local business to help it grow.

3. Write a LinkedIn recommendation for a co-worker or a connection.

4. Drop a note into an elderly neighbour to ask them if they need anything.

5. When working, be kind to yourself by taking well-deserved breaks away from the computer screen.

6. Organise a surprise virtual get-together for someone who’s going through a rough time.

7. Clear out your old clothes ready to take to a charity shop. If you don’t need it, give it!

8. Take time to check in with a friend you haven’t spoken to for a while.

9. Always say thank you – even for the small things that people do for you.

10. Take some time for yourself! Be sure to set some time aside in the week to do something you enjoy, even if it’s for 10 minutes!

 Share your ideas on how to show kindness to yourself and others with us at stories@kent.ac.uk

Do you know someone who is applying to university for 2021, or are you thinking of further study yourself?

We are holding two special events designed to give you, your friends and family the opportunity to discover what makes Kent a great place to study.

Undergraduate Open Event: Saturday 14 November 10.00 – 14.00

Postgraduate Open Event: Wednesday 18 November 12.00 – 15.00

At each event visitors can:

• Chat to current students and lecturers on a live Q&A
• Get all the information on fees, funding and finance including the Academic Excellence Scholarship for new students with A*AA or equivalent and Research Council awards for PhDs
• Listen to a presentation about courses and subjects
• Explore the Templeman and Drill Hall Libraries and discover how their staff and facilities will help you through your studies and research
• Find out about the full range of student support services available
• Take a tour around our accommodation, there’s something for everyone

Everyone is welcome to attend so please share this invitation with your friends, family and colleagues, wherever they are studying now or if they would like to return to study in the future.

There’s even an interactive experience of the Open Day for you to enjoy!

The University’s new Institute of Cultural and Creative Industries features in a number of sessions at a leading Creative Industry event this week.

The Creative Coalition Festival (9-11 Nov) run by the Creative Industries Federation, has gone online for 2020 and is now free to attend.

So, sign up for free today and join us at one (or all) of the events below:

Multiple Towns, Maximum Impact – Tues 10 Nov at 15.10

Can cultural and creative placemaking be collaborative across our towns and cities? A panel discussion including Creative Estuary Project Director, Emma Wilcox.

Kickstarting the Arts – Wed 11 Nov, 12.10

How will the cultural and creative industries and academia work together in a post-COVID future? Above and beyond the training of practitioners and their work as research institutions, what roles does academia have in the future of the arts? ICCI brings together academics, artists, activists and arts leaders to discuss what possibilities the future might hold. A discussion panel led by ICCI Director, Catherine Richardson.

Uni of Kent Alumni Showcase – Wed 11 Nov, 14.20

Introducing the work of 5 Kent alumni, now successfully working in the creative industries. Presented by ICCI.

Also look out for this session by our partners at Pioneering Places:

Cultural Placemaking: The Urban Renewers –  Tues 10 Nov at 16.00

How have creative and cultural institutions evolved from being the beating heart of a community to the engines of heritage and culture-led regeneration?

Find out more and book your free festival pass via the website.

Peter Taylor-Gooby, OBE, Professor of Social Policy at the University of Kent, will deliver the prestigious Sidney Ball Lecture in its Centenary year on Thursday 12 November from 16.00 – 17.30 online.

His theme will be:

COVID-19 and the UK Welfare State: where next for post-pandemic welfare provision?

Professor Taylor-Gooby will argue that in recent years state welfare in the UK has become increasingly divisive. Recent governments have directed a spending to pensions and health care for older people and imposed heavy cuts on the education, housing support and child care used by young people and families of working age. The gap between skilled workers and professionals and those on low-pay and on Universal Credit grows wider.

The early days of the first lockdown cut across these divisions, in a surge of generosity, goodwill and neighbourliness embracing low-paid insecure key workers, homeless people and those in need. The lecture will analyse use new material from Professor Taylor-Gooby’s research on food banks to chart shifts in public generosity and community resilience as the pandemic developed. It will examine whether we succeeded in grasping the opportunity to build greater social cohesion or squandered it.

The Sidney Ball Memorial Lectures were established after the First World War in memory of Sidney Ball who was a philosophy fellow at St John’s College, Oxford. Sidney Ball was both a political radical and ‘an energetic university reformer’ concerned that contemporary social and economic problems should be studied at Oxford.

The lecture will be available online and you can register via the Eventbrite website.

The Talent and Organisational Development team would like to inform staff of two upcoming sessions:

1. Mid-Career Workshop 

This short workshop covers a range of issues relevant to planning your financial affairs, both now and for the future. It will take place on Wednesday 25 November between 14.00 – 16.00. 

2. Pre-Retirement Workshop

A two day workshop aiming to give participants knowledgeable advice in regards to all aspects of planning for retirement, looking at areas such as finance, health and lifestyle. It will take place on Wednesday 25 and Thursday 26 November between 10.00 – 1300.

Both sessions are bookable via Staff Connect, where further information can also be found.

Please contact the team at Ldev@kent.ac.uk if you would like to understand more about the sessions.

Are you a teaching academic? Are you interested in Decolonising Your Reading Lists? Have you thought about the need to Diversify the Academy but not sure where to start? Then this is the event for you!

The University of Kent will Launch Diversity Mark Award via Zoom Live on Tuesday 24 November 2020 Tuesday 14.30 – 17.00.

The award-winning work of Diversity Mark involves a team of cross-departmental colleagues from the Library, Student Success, Academic colleagues, Kent Union and collaboration of Student Ambassadors working to encourage reflection on the demographic makeup of reading lists, and stimulate conversations on how you can diversify reading lists that represent a more universal collection of knowledge. Having run various pilots across the university we would now like to formally launch the award and invite colleagues from across the campus to hear about the work so far.

We are delighted to announce that we will be joined by guest speaker Fope Olaleye, former Black Student Officer for National Union of Students. Fope is an anti-oppression educator, who has worked extensively on centring diverse voices/experiences in HE curriculum. We are also extremely lucky to be hearing from Dr Karen Schucan Bird and Lesley Pitman from UCL about their research “How diverse is your reading list? Exploring issues of representation and decolonisation in the UK”

Attendees can register for free on Eventbrite, and the online event link will then be sent by email. If you are a member of staff with a keen interest in dismantling inequalities, then come along! Better yet, forward the invitation to a colleague who you know has not considered this yet.

Our official Employee Assistance Programme provider, Care first offers a numbers of services and provide useful advice and support, including weekly webinars.

This week’s (Monday 9 November – Friday 13 November) webinars are as follows:

Monday 9 November 2020 –  ‘How Care first can support you’
Time: 12.00-12.30 – to register please click on this Go to webinar link.

Tuesday 10 November 2020 – ‘Finding positives during Lockdown’
Time: 12.00-12.30 – to register please click on this Go to webinar link

Wednesday 11 November 2020 –  ‘Changes for travelling to Europe from 1st January 2021’
Time: 12.00-12.30 – to register please click on this Go to webinar link

Thursday 12 November 2020 – ‘How counselling can have a positive impact on
your mental wellbeing’
Time: 12.00-12.30 – to register please click on this Go to webinar link

Friday 13 November 2020 – Cyberbulling’
Time: 12.00-12.30 – to register please click on this Go to webinar link