For those of you who do not know, direct primary care is a different model of primary care where we do not bill insurance, you pay a monthly membership fee or companies also hire us to take of their employees. For that we can provide more time, attention, and access for our patients.
How to talk to children during this time about this virus? When I say children, I mean anyone under the age of 18. A lot of us adults, this can be a fearful time, but even more so for our children. This is a difficult for children under the age of 18, this is a very disorienting experience for them. Their whole world has changed and I’m getting a lot of questions about how we should talk to our children of various ages about this pandemic. We have plenty of fear going on with this virus in the news, we are talking about it all the time, the children are now sequestered in the house with their parents and there’s a lot of fear. I’m trying to get across in this video is there are two emotions that drive most human behavior. This has been true throughout human history. The two that drive most human behavior is love and fear. So, when I thought about how to talk to your children about this, I thought how can I make this simple? The way to make it simple is as parents, loving our children comes easy to us, right? So, think about how to make them cope with this is from the perspective of that love. Love is the antidote for fear. Our children could have a lot of fear about this right now. Find a way to express love to them as an antidote to that fear and make it age appropriate. So, if they have questions, let them ask their questions and give them reassurance. Reassurance is a form of love for your children and reassuring them that everything is going to be ok and let them ask their questions and give them age-appropriate responses. Answer in an honest, caring, loving way, but also, we express love by spending time with our children. Spend time with them by playing games with them, talking with them, assisting in their homework, those types of things are a great way to eliminate their fear. Keep the communication open and honest as communication is a way to express love.
Another way is to allow them to empower the care for other members in your family. This is a great time to get your kids involved! Sit down with them about all different things that need to be done in the home and in an age-appropriate way allow them to participate in caring for each other. They are away from their friends so encourage them to utilize technology and Face-timing or video chat to connect with their friends. This can help them deal with the fear they may be having. Words of affirmation and being positive having positive perspectives and answers for their questions. Physical touch is another expression, so give them a hug!
A few things I am grateful for! Today, my neighbor brought over zucchini bread for me, and she brought me my favorite chocolate chip cookies! My wife is a fabulous cook and every night she has been making me a healthy plate of food for dinner. She is putting it out on the porch so we can remain our distance. But what I am grateful for is I can eat this cookie and my wife isn’t here to yell at me! I have a feeling this COVID camper may not be great for Dr. Blanchard’s weight problem, but we’ll get through that, and I will get back on my healthy schedule soon.
One positive thing I hope comes out of this pandemic is fear and love are two extraordinarily powerful things that drive our human behavior. Drives the way we think, drives the way we communicate, drives the way we act around each other. Love is the antidote for fear, and love will always conquer fear. So, we want to always keep that in mind. You will notice at the end of the videos I always say, “love each other”. I say this because love is what is going to get us through this time together.
Why I love being a direct primary care doctor comes down to love. As a direct primary care physician this model allows me to give access to my patients, allows me to express love for my patients by giving them care, and then for my patients to express love to me through that trusting relationship. The direct primary care model really allows us to foster this relationship and get the paperwork of insurance companies and billing of insurance and all that nonsense out of the way and really restore the humanity to healthcare.
If you want to learn how direct primary care can work for you, feel free to call Kyle at 248.922.3076. Kyle can answer all your questions and see what six of our locations is best for you and near you! You can also follow us on Facebook @salta_directprimarycare. OR you can search us on Google stating, “direct primary care near me!”
Stay safe! Love each other! See you tomorrow!
