She said these same colleagues worked ridiculously long hours and when they found the time to shop for groceries, they were often left staring at rows of empty shelves at the supermarket.
“People fear catching the virus or worse, the off chance it can pass to a vulnerable family member. A nurse was evicted from her house because her housemates were afraid they would contract Covid-19 from her.
“Another nurse in her 40s worked endless hours and between her shift and looking after her family, passed away from a heart attack brought on by exhaustion,” says Lena.
These are just a few of the many despairing stories currently afflicting healthcare workers as they fight to combat the Covid-19 outbreak in the country.
Lena tells FMT that the “Adopt a Healthcare Worker” initiative first sprouted in Perth, mooted by her close friend’s cousin and she wondered if she could start a similar social media page for Malaysia’s healthcare workers in an effort to lessen their burden.
“I contacted my good friend Bhavani about the ‘Adopt a Healthcare Worker’ page and suggested she start something similar in Malaysia.
“After a couple of days, Bhavani informed me that she wanted to serve food to healthcare workers in clinics and hospitals, and she was trying to reach out to people who were keen to help.
“I took it as a positive sign and created the ‘Adopt a Healthcare Worker’ page in Malaysia.”
The initiative aims to connect healthcare workers (adoptees) with members of the community (adopters) to enable practical support during this pandemic.
Adopting a healthcare worker means you will ideally agree to keep in touch with and help your adoptee in practical ways that can possibly ease their workload and stress.
This can be activities such as grocery shopping, cooking meals, taking care of their pets or offering a spare bedroom to a healthcare worker, to sourcing PPE and hand sanitisers.
Healthcare workers might have concerns because their current lodging could be shared with an elderly or immunocompromised person.
Here are four ways you can adopt a healthcare worker:
- Join the “Adopt a Healthcare Worker Malaysia” Facebook page.
- Search the topic, “healthcare workers that can be adopted”.
- Scroll through the posts to find a healthcare worker expressing their wish to be adopted or sharing a concern that you can address.
- Work towards addressing their immediate needs or find someone you know who can.
“The other way is to proactively post on the page stating which area you are located in, what you are happy to help with and inviting healthcare workers nearby to take you up on your offer,” explains Lena.
According to Lena, there are many gratitude posts with healthcare workers expressing their thanks to members of the group.
The response from the Facebook page has been overwhelmingly positive with the community offering anything from free counselling sessions to online yoga sessions, helping out with groceries for the elderly parents of healthcare workers to offering their time to sew PPE.
“We have seen so many healthcare workers expressing their concern on the page for other fellow healthcare workers on issues such as the lack of PPE.
“One healthcare worker was even trying to source a tent for patients’ comfort so that they will have less contact indoors with other patients.
“The response was amazing with many individuals and groups of people offering tents.”
“Helping our healthcare workers is vital right now. They are the ones who are taking care of us and our loved ones.
“If we do not support them, then it is our community who will feel the effects,” concludes Lena.
So head on over to Adopt a Healthcare Worker Malaysia’s Facebook page and adopt a healthcare worker today!