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Matt Marshall, social worker

Matt Marshall has been supporting families of COVID-19 patients in the emergency department and intensive care unit of Royal Jubilee Hospital in Victoria, where he has worked for seven years.

Families in isolation can’t visit their loved ones so Marshall speaks with them regularly by phone as part of a critical-care team that includes doctors, nurses, respiratory therapists and physical and occupational therapists.

“It’s an added layer of stress for the people,” he says of the anxiety felt by those craving information on those in hospital.

“I’m also talking to people making sure that they’re monitoring their symptoms properly, that they know how to call for help if things are getting worse and making sure that they’re set for food.”

The families’ main concerns are focused on “what the trajectory for the illness is going to be like, how are they going to be able to survive and what that’s going to look like,” he says.

Working by phone from the hospital instead of having face-to-face interactions with families has been easier than Marshall expected.

“I was a little bit worried about making connections with people over the telephone but I’ve found people are really receptive to communicating in any way they can and having that social connection is really important for them and being able to talk to people is really important.”

Marshall is coping with his own stress by spending time with family at home and reconnecting virtually with people he hasn’t been in touch with for a while, in some cases for years.

He’s also making the best of the time he now must spend at home.

“My yard looks really nice.”