Smiling From Behind the Mask

girl wearing medical mask

How McGregor’s Masked Heroes Spread Kindness

The power of a smile is well noted. Smiling is such a force that business outlet Forbes Magazine wrote an entire article on the “Untapped Power of Smiling” to help business magnates harness the power. One interesting finding of the study quoted in the article was that you could predict the lifespan of baseball players who smiled in the picture used on their cards. Players smiling on their baseball card lived, on average, about 5 years longer than their scowling counterparts. According to this study, smiling can actually extend your life.

One aspect of the healthcare industry that gets overlooked is the power of smiling when taking care of patients. Our healthcare professionals are unable to show those beautiful smiles to our residents right now because of our COVID-19 requirement to wear masks. But just like real-life superheroes, they are letting our patients feel the love in other ways. 

Psychology Today recently shared an article talking about other ways to communicate effectively when wearing a mask. Many of the suggestions offered are things that our team is already doing to let our residents know that behind each mask is someone ready to provide the same high level of care they’ve come to expect.

As highlighted in the article, here are some ways to communicate effectively when wearing a mask:

Use Your Eyebrows

The eyeballs themselves can express through pupil dilation and other automatic responses, but if you aren’t close to someone (i.e. social distancing), it can be hard to detect those changes. This is when the eyebrows become important to expression. The letters “V” and “U” come to mind when thinking about how our eyebrows express our emotions. V-shaped eyebrows usually mean anger, while upside-down U-shaped eyebrows indicate happiness. Our team has been going out of their way to spread those U-shaped brows as often as possible during the COVID-19 outbreak.

Use Your Body Language

Kinesics is the study of body movements and what they mean.  When affect displays are taken away due to masks, the language of posture and body movements becomes even more critical. Everything from hand movements to the way that you stand can play a part in conveying messages and providing comfort to someone else during this time.

Be Patient

It can be difficult to hear what is being said through a mask, so our team is practicing patience as they convey messages as well as receive them. Sometimes it is not enough to speak up, and that’s why using the eyebrows and body language is important. But the most critical thing our team can do is be patient with our residents who are having a tough time expressing how they feel and what they need. Super hearing is a superpower not everyone has, but super compassion is something all of our masked heroes are equipped with every day.

We salute our team and thank them for coming to work every day—smiles reflected in those U-shaped brows—as they help our residents, their families, and other staff members navigate these difficult waters. That extra effort is what you and your family can expect when your loved one comes to stay with us at McGregor Amasa. They will have our own super team of heroes ready to take care of them every day. We can’t wait for you to meet our team.

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