Strengthening Indonesian Family During Covid-19 Pandemic PDF

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Strengthening Indonesian Family During Covid-19 Pandemic Herdy Munayang, MD, MA* This article is trying to elaborate ways of strengthening families in Indonesia in the time of pandemic not only to survive but to live happily and healthily as well. Indonesia and the rest of the world are facing a ver...

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Strengthening Indonesian Family During Covid-19 Pandemic Herdy Munayang

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Strengthening Indonesian Family During Covid-19 Pandemic Herdy Munayang, MD, MA*

This article is trying to elaborate ways of strengthening families in Indonesia in the time of pandemic not only to survive but to live happily and healthily as well. Indonesia and the rest of the world are facing a very serious challenge i.e., covid-19 pandemic. According to data released by Indonesian Ministry of Health on Sunday, June 28, 2020 total number of confirmed cases in Indonesia was 54,010 and 9,843,073 globally. In terms of people under monitoring (ODP) in Indonesia, there were 47,658 people, and patients under surveillance (PDP) were 14.712 patients in all over Indonesia. If we look at the infographic at an official site by Ministry of Health (https://covid19.kemkes.go.id/) we can see that new cases found by PCR testing are not decreasing yet. However, the good news is government said that the ability of laboratories in working on testing the ODP and PDP is increasing, it means there are more samples can be examined nowadays. Two hundred and fifteen countries have been affected by the spread of SARS-Cov-2 virus, and 195 countries have had local transmission status. What we can see in our country is the pandemic has been influencing many aspects of Indonesian life. They are health, economic, education, spiritual, social and politics aspects, to mention a few. Activities we used to do before the pandemic have changed greatly. Currently, we cannot forget to wear mask, wash hands with soap and water or with hand sanitizer, to maintain social and physical distancing, and to wear more complete personal protective equipment (APD) for people who work in high risk environments such as medical doctors and nurses. Many people are facing economic problems namely being fired or being sent home with no or reduced salary, having reduced income from different kinds of business which are still allowed to run, or being banned from opening their stands in modern or in traditional markets. Schools and campuses are closed and if they are in green zones and want to open they are obliged to meet health protocols set by COVID-19 Response Acceleration Task Force. Those rules also apply to praying places which are going to reopen in the new normal time. We have had limited opportunities in visiting parents and relatives in our hometowns, or seeing friends in different places, communication must be done largely by online tools such as by phone or social media platforms. And elections for governors, regents or mayors in December 2020 must be prepared well and budget for the election should be added to provide personal protective equipment (APD) for staffs who will be in the field directly seeing the voters. Those challenges mentioned above must be handled wisely by our society. We all understand that a society is formed by families, and a family is formed by individuals. Family as the smallest group in society should be able to function well in managing every issues in life. In time of pandemic, it is hoped that families in Indonesia be strong, and to improve family endurance National Population and Family Planning Board (BKKBN) has shared four strategies for each Indonesian family, they are:

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1) family gathers, by being together it is expected that emotional relationship between members of the family would be better; 2) family interacts with other families, by contacting other families, relatives and friends through mobile phones or other tools, it can help families in building harmony in society and to strengthen each other; 3) family empowers itself, by optimizing resources that a family has, it can be useful in order to meet economic needs; and 4) family cares and shares with others, families which have more regarding to financial or other resources can do real actions in helping other families who are in need, at least in their neighborhoods. Adding to those strategies, here are some efforts which can be applied by each family in Indonesia in order to live happily and healthily. They are, we can call it “WE LOVE INDONESIA”: 1. We choose healthy lifestyle (good nutrition, regular exercise at home, and no narcotics, psychotropics, and other addictive substances) 2. Enable our family to laugh, to enjoy and practice arts and hobbies 3. Like to help and give, to do kindness, and to say thank you and to be grateful 4. Offer quality time for meditation, relaxation, recreation, and enjoying healthy social and physical environment (but pay attention to rules in this pandemic time) 5. Void the thought of a perfect spouse. 6. Empower our spouse to change by changing ourselves first 7. Instill our mind with commitment of marriage to enjoy the love 8. No mentioning problems in the past 9. Do handle with care the storms in our family altogether 10. Operate different methods or ways in finding solutions for problems, different attitudes and actions might result differently. 11. Never cheat, always be loyal to spouse. Time will make us able to survive from stresses and challenges 12. Encourage patience, stop anger in handling every problem in household 13. Stimulate good communication between spouses, act wisely, because bad acts can trigger bad feelings and bad behaviors 14. Initiate efforts to date with spouse, talk openly between husband and wife 15. Acknowledge spouse’s contributions in marriage and respect him/herself.

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In summary, by applying good communication and behavior, love and care, and optimization of all resources in every member of families in Indonesia will yield power and endurance in each and every family to be able to going through this pandemic and walk out from it with victory. Happy national family day to all families in Indonesia on June 29, 2020!

*Lecturer, Head of Counseling Unit, Secretary of Psychiatry Department, and Deputy II of Vice Dean for Academic and Cooperation, Medical School, Sam Ratulangi University.

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