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@ -3,10 +3,87 @@ title: "How to assist people in home isolation"
images: ["/topic/coronanotes/care_curve.jpg"]
---
*Drafted by the [Pirate Care Syllabus](http://syllabus.pirate.care/) crew. Last edit: March 14, 9pm CST.*
*Drafted by the [Pirate Care Syllabus](http://syllabus.pirate.care/) crew. Last edit: March 21, 12am CST.*
*Ovaj dokument dostupan je na Hrvatskom: ![](session:hr.assistingpeopleinisolation.md)*
# Rationale for organising assistance
The most significant thing people can do to reduce the virus spread and the mortality is to practice avoid close contact (2 meters distance in closed spaces, 1 meter in open air), working from home and home isolation. People belonging to at-risk groups (over 60 years of age and/or suffering from chronic conditions such as cardiovascular and heart diseases, high or low blood pressure, diabetes, lung or immune system diseases), should not leave their home. People who have recently travelled, or people who have onset symptoms, and are advised or ordered to go into isolation, have to stay at home and avoid contact with others. In many places, as lock-down measures are introduced, everyone else, who doesn't have a duty to go to work, should remain at home and leave only to do necessary purchases. Thereby we lower the risk of further significant spread.
The home isolation, however, creates significant obstacles to securing the regular provision of food, medicines, toiletries and other consumables, as well as obstacles to attending to routine tasks such as taking out the rubbish or collecting mail. Isolation implies a radical workaround of how those who are in isolation organise their daily lives. And the conditions of isolation might lead to disorientation, lack of social contact, and emotional difficulties.
If you are not in an at-risk group and wish to organise as a group or as an individual to assist your family members, friends, neighbours or strangers, here are the things you can take into consideration to build different scenarios how to assist them in their needs during home isolation:
# Let them know you are ready to assist
You can let them know that you can provide assistance by posting a note in the building entrance, leaving a note under or next to their door, or ringing them up. You can also publicise it on social media or on a webpage, but assume that older people might not be Internet-savvy, so rely on paper and phone. Leave a phone number as a contact and basic information about yourself or your group to establish initial trust. Let them know in your note that if they themselves might not need assistance that they can inform their friends and family who might need assistance that you are offering help.
Your initial note can be very simple, for example:
> Dear neighbours,
> if you need assistance with getting your food and medical provisions, collecting mail or taking out your dog for a walk please give us a call at
> [your phone number here]
> and we'll do those errands for you, taking necessary measures to precaution not to expose you to the contaigon.
> Stay at home and stay healthy, please do not hesitate to contact us, we're here to help,
> [Describe shortly who you are and your name, e.g. "Neighbour from the ground floor", "Neighbourhood mutual aid group"]
# What to consider when arranging assistance
When arranging assistance make sure to:
- Go with the person in home isolation through guidelines on home isolation, assistance to at risk groups and similar official guidance, [e.g. Irish Health Care guideline](https://www2.hse.ie/conditions/coronavirus/self-isolation-and-limited-social-interaction.html) to establish what they need to do to organise their daily life during a prolonged home isolation and what they need to organise it in that way?
- What provisions do they need? Can you order that online and have it delivered, or is it better that you deliver the provisions yourself?
- Do they have the medicines they need? Do they need a prescription? Can you pick up their medication from the pharmacy? Do they have masks, soap and desinfectants? Do they have a thermometer and fever and cough medicine?
- Can they prepare a meal or do they need help? Can you make them a meal? Or instead arrange to have food delivered to them from a soup or solidarity kitchen?
- Do they need to have their rubbish put out or mail collected?
- Do they have a house pet? Does it need to be walked?
- Do they have money? Do they have cash? Can they pay online? Do they have a trusted person who can withdraw cash for them? Do they need financial assistance?
# What to consider when delivering items
When delivering things, consider also the following:
- Avoid close contact (2 meters in closed space and 1 meter in opern air, and keep the interaction short) to prevent the transmission of the virus by air.
- It is best to drop things in front of their door for them to collect once you have moved away to the advised distance.
- They can also do the same with rubbish or anything they have to give to you.
- If you can't avoid direct social contact, the person in isolation should wear a mask. First leave them a mask if they don't have one.
- Carefully handle the items in order to avoid transmission of the virus via surfaces. Use disposable gloves to handle items you will deliver and things you are taking over.
# What to consider if you live with the person in home isolation
Persons who are in isolation, either because they might be or are infected, or because they belong to one of the at-risk groups, frequently will live in a shared household with other people. For those who are older, seriously ill, infirm or disabled who depend on the assistance of others, yet live in locations and situations where such assistance cannot be provided by qualified institutions and trained carers, the advised social distancing and isolation might not be easily implementable, and direct contact will be necessary. If you have a person in isolation in your home or are a live-in carer, consider the advice for carers for children or someone else in self-isolation in the following [guideline](https://www2.hse.ie/conditions/self-isolation-and-self-quarantine/how-to-self-isolate.html).
In short:
- If possible, the person in isolation should use a separate room. Regularly ventilate and disinfect the room.
- If possible, that person should use a separate toilet and bathroom. Otherwise, toilet and bathroom have to be disinfected after use.
- That person should be isolated from other persons in the household who belong to one of the at-risk groups.
- If that person needs the care of other persons, reduce the number of carers. If the person is infected, make sure that the carers don't belong to one of the at-risk groups.
- Carers should maintain the distance (two meters) if you're not providing direct support, use the mask for as long as they are in the same room, and wash their hands before and after contact.
- Desinfect the surfaces, separate out their rubbish, particularly tissues and other contaminated items. Keep the contaminated rubbish firmly tied up in a plastic bag in the room with the person in isolation and take it to the bin separately just before the regular collection.
- Use separate cuttlery and dishes, wash and disinfect after use.
- Wash separately, regularly and at high temperature bedding, towls and clothes.
Redovito dezinficirajte površine i zasebno odvajajte otpatke, pogotovo maramice i ostale kontaminirane otpatke. Držite kontaminirani otpad zavezan u plastičnoj vrećici u prostoriji gdje je osoba u izolaciji i zasebno ga iznesite neposredno prije skupljanja otpada.
# Maintain regular contact and provide emotional support
Check-in with them on a regular basis. Listen. Engage. Consider the following:
- Do they have everything they need? Are they feeling well? Do they need medical assistance?
- As people stay in social isolation, they might be missing contact and emotional support, be ready to spend time talking with them and understanding how they are feeling and coping.
- If you think they are not emotionally well, have a psychological help hotline at hand and advise them to seek consultation.
- If you desire to get informed on how to provide autonomous psychological support, consider looking at the topic ![Psycho-social autonomy](topic:psychosocialautonomy) in our Pirate Care Syllabus.
# Further reading / resources
- [Downloadable posters templates for those who are self-isolating as a preventative measure, by Chronically Awesome](https://chronicallyawesome.org.uk/posters-for-those-who-are-self-isolating-as-a-preventative-measure/)
- [Safer Drug Use During the COVID-19 Outbreak](https://lookaside.fbsbx.com/file/COVID19%20safer%20drug%20use.pdf?token=AWxd1gCExP0zbpdULu9PhQROCG5PIk4GHwF8PmtHYXE7XBTULcjeVRnQ7DxxhXTMvV8auJGiGoMIDaTeRj6S16UGXIdodGElXEhlx78UmgBkCcq5WIniI5UE3tDPEe0InVjURsKobBbxTycSr6TR-ch002u4WmRVHACB53miwRr72Q)
- [Quarantine the cat? Disinfect the dog? The latest advice about the coronavirus and your pets](https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/03/quarantine-cat-disinfect-dog-latest-advice-about-coronavirus-and-your-pets?fbclid=IwAR20kIlTBEYSEFTPYJVJSBdrRsT779FzKacii_cGyM30DbceiqDFi22NTlQ)
# Examples of communities organising assistance
[Neighbours helping neighbours in home isolation in Vienna](https://www.facebook.com/wienzufuss/photos/a.458468684246706/2800060280087523/?type=3&theater)[^1]
@ -21,65 +98,7 @@ images: ["/topic/coronanotes/care_curve.jpg"]
[COVID-19 UK Mutual Aid groups: a list by Freedom News](https://freedomnews.org.uk/covid-19-uk-mutual-aid-groups-a-list/)
[Queer Relief Covid-19 Berlin - Getting Help](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeYAX7N5xqNqwQRRz8mBH4uL9oL23Kn60uUOwmssfE6sEg2gg/viewform?fbclid=IwAR2SygfHSQSq9Gkj8_-9OnjsKT4Q7eZHt0DuYNeh7ozfbuasJf3KGRiWoIs)
# Rationale for organising assistance
The most significant thing people can do to reduce the virus spread and the mortality is to practice social distancing and self-isolation. People belonging to at-risk groups (over 60 years of age and/or suffering from chronic conditions such as cardiovascular and heart diseases, high or low blood pressure, diabetes, lung or immune system diseases), or people who have recently travelled to outbreak zones, or people who have onset symptoms and are advised by their physician to go into isolation, have to stay at home and avoid contact with others. Thereby they avoid the risk of being infected or infecting others.
The self-isolation, however, creates significant obstacles to securing the regular provision of food, medicines, toiletries and other consumables, as well as obstacles to attending to routine tasks such as taking out the rubbish or collecting mail. It implies a radical workaround of the way how those who are in isolation have to organise their lives. The conditions of isolation might lead to disorientation, lack of social contact, and emotional difficulties.
If you are not in an at-risk group and wish to organise as a group or as an individual to assist your family members, friends, neighbours or strangers, here are the things you can take into consideration to build different scenarios how to assist them in their needs during home isolation:
# Let them know you are ready to assist
You can let them know that you can provide assistance by ringing them up, leaving a note under or next to their door, or posting a note in the building entrance. You can also publicise it on social media or on a webpage, but assume that older people might not be Internet-savvy, so rely on paper and phone. Leave a phone number as a contact i basic information about yourself or your group. Let them know in your note that if they themselves might not need assistance that they can inform their friends and family who might need assistance that you are offering assistance.
# What to consider when arranging assistance
When arranging assistance make sure to:
- Go with the person in home isolation through the following [guideline](https://www2.hse.ie/conditions/coronavirus/self-isolation-and-limited-social-interaction.html) of what they have to do during their home isolation and what they need to organise their life in that way?
- What provisions do they need? Can you order that online and have it delivered, or is it better that you deliver the provisions yourself?
- Do they have the medicines they need? Do they need a prescription? Can you pick up their medication from the pharmacy? Do they have masks, soap and alcohol-based (above 60% alcohol content) or bleach-based (3% solution) disinfectant? Do they have a thermometer and fever and cough medicine?
- Can they prepare a meal or do they need help? Can you make them with a meal? Or instead arrange to have food delivered to them from a soup or solidarity kitchen?
- Do they need to have their rubbish put out or mail collected?
- Do they have a house pet? Does it need to be walked?
- Do they have money? Do they have cash? Can they pay online? Do they have a trusted person who can withdraw cash for them? Do they need financial assistance?
# What to consider when delivering items
When delivering things, consider also the following:
- Avoid close contact to prevent the transmission of the virus by air.
- It is best to drop things in front of their door for them to collect once you have moved away to a safe distance (at least 2 meters and keep the interaction short).
- They can also do the same with rubbish or anything they have to give to you. Consider also the following:
- If you can't avoid direct social contact, the person in isolation should wear a mask. First leave them a mask if they don't have one.
- Carefully handle the items in order to avoid transmission of the virus via surfaces. Use disposable gloves to handle items you will deliver and things you are taking over.
# What to consider if you live with the person in home isolation
Persons who are in isolation, either because they might be or are infected, or because they belong to one of the at-risk groups, frequently will live in a shared household with other people. For those who are older, seriously ill, infirm or disabled who depend on the assistance of others, yet live in locations and situations where such assistance cannot be provided by qualified institutions and trained carers, the advised social distancing and isolation might not be easily implementable, and direct contact will be necessary. If you are a live-in carer, consider the advice for carers for children or someone else in self-isolation in the following [guideline](https://www2.hse.ie/conditions/self-isolation-and-self-quarantine/how-to-self-isolate.html).
In short:
- If possible, isolate the person in a separate room.
- Regularly ventilate the room.
- If possible, allocate to the person a separate toilet and bathroom.
- Isolate the person from other persons in the household who belong to one of the at-risk groups.
- If the person needs the care of other persons, reduce the number of carers. If the person is infected, make sure that the carers don't belong to one of the at-risk groups.
- Maintain the distance (a meter at the least) if you're not providing direct support, use the mask for as long as you are in the same room, and wash your hands before and after the contact.
- Desinfect the surfaces, separate out their rubbish, particularly tissues, and
# Maintain regular contact and provide emotional support
Check-in with them on a regular basis. Listen. Engage. Consider the following:
- Do they have everything they need? Are they feeling well? Do they need medical assistance?
- As people stay in social isolation, they might be missing contact and emotional support, be ready to spend time talking with them and understanding how they are feeling and coping.
- If you think they are not emotionally well, have a psychological help hotline at hand and advise them to seek consultation.
- If you desire to get informed on how to provide autonomous psychological support, consider looking at the topic ![Psycho-social autonomy](topic:psychosocialautonomy) in our Pirate Care Syllabus.
# Further reading / resources
- [Downloadable posters templates for those who are self-isolating as a preventative measure, by Chronically Awesome](https://chronicallyawesome.org.uk/posters-for-those-who-are-self-isolating-as-a-preventative-measure/)
- [Safer Drug Use During the COVID-19 Outbreak](https://lookaside.fbsbx.com/file/COVID19%20safer%20drug%20use.pdf?token=AWxd1gCExP0zbpdULu9PhQROCG5PIk4GHwF8PmtHYXE7XBTULcjeVRnQ7DxxhXTMvV8auJGiGoMIDaTeRj6S16UGXIdodGElXEhlx78UmgBkCcq5WIniI5UE3tDPEe0InVjURsKobBbxTycSr6TR-ch002u4WmRVHACB53miwRr72Q)
- [Quarantine the cat? Disinfect the dog? The latest advice about the coronavirus and your pets](https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/03/quarantine-cat-disinfect-dog-latest-advice-about-coronavirus-and-your-pets?fbclid=IwAR20kIlTBEYSEFTPYJVJSBdrRsT779FzKacii_cGyM30DbceiqDFi22NTlQ)
[Queer Relief Covid-19 Berlin - Getting Help](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeYAX7N5xqNqwQRRz8mBH4uL9oL23Kn60uUOwmssfE6sEg2gg/viewform)
# Notes