OpusVi and Exeter launch resilience program for COVID-19 frontline workers

London, UK

A micro-course to support healthcare workers at the frontline of COVID-19 response

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and with the goal of giving back to the healthcare community, OpusVi has partnered with the University of Exeter to develop an app-based micro-course for frontline healthcare workers. Entitled Strength to Endure, the course was created in collaboration with the United Kingdom’s University of Exeter, the No. 2 UK University for Sports Science (Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2020) and No. 10 in the world for sport-related subjects (QS World University Rankings 2020).

The one-hour micro-course gives insights into strengthening resilience, improving overall well-being, and navigating the unprecedented new normal healthcare workers now face on a daily basis. To care for those who care for others, the course is just $10. All profits will be donated to local nursing foundations. For more information and to register, click here.

Principles and strategies used by elite athletes to endure high-pressure moments were used to create the program

The science and research behind the course are based on the same strategies used by elite athletes to endure high-pressure moments during intense competition. The course teaches healthcare workers how to optimize their mental and physical energy by maintaining well-being through nutrition and rest, preparing for adversity, and applying mental skills in the moment. Strength to Endure is broken up into short segments to enable busy healthcare workers to review information a few minutes at a time.

“OpusVi’s mission is simple,” says Andrew Malley, CEO of OpusVi. “By utilizing world-class online education, we want to enhance careers, improve workforces and efficiencies, and ultimately help those working in the health space provide the highest possible quality of care. We believe this program will give frontline workers tools to do the incredible work they are doing by strengthening their mindset using the same input given to elite athletes and those in other high-pressure disciplines.”

 

The experts behind the program

The micro-course curriculum was co-created by Mark Wilson, PhD, professor of Performance Psychology and Exeter’s director of Research for Sport and Health Sciences. He developed the course along with Luciana Torquati, PhD. Dr. Torquati joined Exeter in 2019 as a lecturer in Nutrition and has a background in studying the relationship between diet and physical activity in nursing.

“Our goal with this program is to help frontline healthcare workers control the controllables and set a mental and physical foundation that will help them function at their best level,” says Professor Wilson. “Our motivation to create this class comes from our admiration and gratitude for all those dedicated doctors, nurses, and other clinicians during this exceptional crisis.”

 

Course content giving healthcare workers hands-on tools to help them endure

The course curriculum is divided into three core areas:

• Psyching up Your Mindset highlights the development of mental resiliency and toughness.
• Fueling up for Shift Work examines the most practical ways to eat well.
• Keeping up With Shift Work offers practical tips for sleeping and when to eat or avoid eating.

While covering a wide range of useful topics, the course is streamlined by design so that it works seamlessly into the busy lives of frontline caregivers. It provides one CME/CEU credit and is delivered online via the EdApp (available on both iOS and Android platforms). The continuing education credit is provided by AKH Inc., Advancing Knowledge in Healthcare.

Peer-reviewed research, government reports, and insights from relevant professional institutions were used to develop the course. OpusVi reminds students that these are general guidelines and do not substitute for specialist or medical advice.