With recent news and media coverage about the Coronavirus (COVID-19), following on from a difficult bushfire season, it is normal for children and adults to feel overwhelmed and stressed during this time.
This curated selection of resources will assist parents and carers to best to support their children and reduce worry and distress. It contains a video, factsheets and tips about what you can expect and how you can help children cope.
Talking to children about natural disasters, traumatic events, or worries about the future – video
Communicating with your child about COVID-19
Many parents and carers may be wondering how to talk with their child or children about COVID-19 and what information to share. This resource is designed to help you to prepare for these conversations.
Helping children cope with stress during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak – factsheet
This factsheet, originally developed by the World Health Organisation, provides tips for parents and carers to help support their children who may be feeling stressed due to the recent news of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.
Traumatic events, the media and your child – factsheet
With COVID-19 updates currently on our screens, radios and newspapers, parents and carers might be wondering how best to support their children and reduce worry and distress. This factsheet focuses on tips to manage children’s exposure to media coverage.
Coronavirus (COVID-19) and children in Australia – raisingchildren.net.au
This resource includes information about how the virus can affect children and how to talk to children about COVID-19.
How to talk to your children about coronavirus (COVID-19)
UNICEF Australia have created eight tips to help comfort and protect children when discussing COVID-19.
Coronavirus (COVID-19) – healthdirect.gov.au
Healthdirect encourages people to go online to find information they need and relieve the demand on helplines. The website is regularly updated from government resources to provide timely and accurate consumer-friendly advice and information. Other tools include the healthdirect Symptom Checker to identify people experiencing COVID-19-specific symptoms and provide advice on what they should do next, such as calling ahead before visiting a GP or emergency department, the Service Finder listing the COVID-19 respiratory centres as they are established and the healthdirect app which includes all of the above in one place.
Parents need stress relief, too – The New York Times
This article offers some coping strategies for parents suffering from COVID-19 anxiety.
The recent news of event cancellations and limiting exposure to large groups of people is likely to create more time for families to spend together. Parents and carers may be wondering how to support and engage with their children, and strengthen their relationship with their child. Our podcast ‘The power of play’, introduces the concept of child-led play and talks about the importance of play for child social and emotional wellbeing.
Parent-child play: A mental health promotion strategy for all children – practice paper
This resource provides practical information on the use of play to strengthen child-parent relationships and promote children’s mental health.
Parent-child play: Practice resource – factsheet
This resource compliments the practice paper ‘Parent-child play: A mental health promotion strategy for all children’.
It has two components: a conversation guide that practitioners can work through with families, and practitioner notes that provide support for introducing parent-child play and using the conversation guide. The conversation guide is for use with families who are interested in working on their playtime.
Parent-child play: Conversation guide – factsheet
This resource compliments the practice paper ‘Parent-child play: A mental health promotion strategy for all children’. It is intended to be filled in by parents but provides an opportunity for the child and practitioner involved to talk about the benefits of play in a family.
