Priya Rai
The era of COVID-19 has proved itself to be challenging for all of us. After claiming millions of lives and affecting people of all ages in every part of the world. As we are on the mends and moving towards returning to a normally functioning life, it’s essential to keep in mind that things still aren’t over till they’re over.
Just because the number of infections is declining doesn’t mean we’re in the clear. We still need to practice COVID-19 prevention techniques and count on health workers who have played such essential roles up till now.
This article is going to look at COVID-19 prevention and the role that health workers play outside hospitals. By the end of this write-up, you should have a general idea of how healthcare workers are doing their jobs (and more) in the post-pandemic world.
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Educating the public
One of the most important factors about the pandemic is knowing how the virus spreads. The lack of awareness and education has contributed to the rise in the number of infections we see rising in most parts of the world. Public health and community workers have worked tirelessly to educate the masses and play their role in reducing the number of infections.
You may be wondering the difference between community health vs public health workers; it’s relatively simple; a community health worker is a sub-discipline of public health. They do pretty much the same thing but on a local level compared to a national level.
The crucial factor about both of them is the essential role in raising awareness and educating the public.
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Testing and diagnostics
You may have noticed several little kiosks popping up in various cities around the country. They play a part in mobile COVID-19 testing and help avoid traffic inside hospital buildings. Health workers who tend to the kiosks conduct tests as quickly as possible so people can drop their samples and be on their way.
Other than kiosks, drive-through testing facilities are also on the rise. Health workers quickly take nasal swabs, bag the sample, and individuals can get their results online.
Not only is this a great way to save time and avoid crowded spaces, but it encourages more people to get tested as well. The easier it is, the more likely people will engage in testing for the virus voluntarily.
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Research
The amount of research that went into finding details about COVID-19 and its molecular structure is staggering. Health workers initially worked tirelessly to find out how they could avoid this specific strain of virus when the pandemic first struck.
After discovering everything they needed to avoid the virus, they moved on to looking for a vaccine. It took several months for health practitioners, researchers, and other professionals to finally come out with a series of vaccines administered on a large scale.
Treatment and therapy have helped people recover from the virus, but the implications of creating and administering the vaccine are significant steps in the right direction. Without the non-medical contributions of health workers, a vaccine wouldn’t be possible.
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Volunteering for charity
It’s not uncommon to find health workers tending to sick and injured individuals in homeless shelters and other charitable facilities. The pandemic has created a sense of empathy in just about everyone, and health workers are using this time to help treat people in different settings. In non-hospital settings, health workers do a lot for the community. Whether it’s treating out-patient COVID-19 victims or giving charity where the need arises, the role they play in society is profound, and we can never fully thank them for their part.
Without the charitable services which health workers provided during COVID-19., the number of deaths would have increased. Underprivileged and poverty-stricken individuals are less likely to seek medical treatment than the average person, hence why it’s so crucial that aid reaches them first.
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Raising awareness about social issues
The pandemic was a nightmare for people who were stuck at home and facing domestic violence. Without the help of the enforcement and medical health sector, we wouldn’t have known what atrocities were going on in some people’s homes. Health workers raised awareness about the number of assault cases that they saw during the pandemic. They also brought to light how prevalent mental health and substance abuse issues have been since the COVID-19 lockdowns.
Health workers are exposed to a vast range of people during their day. They see different cases, and when patterns begin to form, they need to let the authorities known.
As we mentioned earlier, this is where a community health worker comes in. they raise awareness when they see that certain areas show recurrent patterns and themes of social issues.
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Post-discharge care
After patients have spent time in the hospital, a lot of them need home-based care. Such is the case with geriatric patients who survived COVID-19 but still need medical attention to ensure that all their health matters are cared for. Health workers frequently visit patients after they’re discharged to ensure that everything is alright. Administering injections, providing oxygen, and checking vitals are typical roles that health workers fulfill when visiting recently released COVID-19 patients.
The person-centered role that health workers play with the senior population is what may have saved thousands of lives. The virus is known to attack the elderly worse, and recovery generally takes longer than adolescents and middle-aged individuals.
Conclusion
There we have come of the most common roles that health workers play outside hospital settings during COVID-19. From tending to the senior population after being discharged to their part in research, we are forever indebted to the health workers in our society.
We are forever grateful to the healthcare sector and men and women who dedicated their lives to helping others.
