Dear Students and Families,

We have been thinking about you and hoping that you and your loved ones are safe and healthy. This is an unprecedented time in many ways, and the uncertainty and isolation may be evoking many emotions. We understand that this is a difficult time for many students and families, and we want to provide the most effective support and guidance we can from afar.

Structure, balance, and routine are essential to navigating the coming days and weeks. Students will benefit from creating a personal daily schedule, including:

We also want to clarify services that the Rebecca M. Sykes Wellness Center can provide while the Academy is providing distance learning. While we are not set up for telehealth options at this time, and current licensing regulations limit this ability, we will continue to provide guidance as we can. We are committed to partnering with you to ensure that medical care and psychological services can be transferred to providers at home. For many, the medical home will remain with your primary care physician, who can manage medications and make referrals as appropriate. We recognize that this may present difficulty for some, so we hope this partnership will help to ease the transition.

We hope the FAQs below will address your most pressing concerns. We will continue to update them as the situation evolves. Please feel free to reach out with questions. You can reach a member of the Rebecca M. Sykes Wellness Center team:

First and foremost, through these times, we want you to BE WELL! Look for our wellness challenges promoting sleep, exercise, nutrition, stress management, and healthy relationships and opportunities to connect through virtual platforms. Follow @pawellness on Instagram to stay in touch while we are off campus! Staying connected and focusing on a wellness routine will keep up our #bigbluespirit!

You are in our thoughts and we look forward to connecting in the near future. We hope that you and your family stay well.

Best,

Amy Patel, MD
Medical Director

Suzanne Heon Kemp, Psy.D.
Director of Psychological Services

Linda Carter Griffith
Associate Head of School for Equity, Inclusion, and Wellness

1. What are my health insurance options?

If you are on your own health insurance plan, typically through a parent/guardian plan, there should not be any changes. If you are on the school health insurance, offered only to international students, your plan will remain in place through the school year with coverage that extends worldwide for urgent/emergent issues related to illness or injury. For questions or clarifications, please contact Jackie Delacruz, Wellness Center Operations and Insurance Specialist or Cathy Golas, Wellness Center Administrative Director.

2. My child has medication at the wellness center. How can we obtain them?

We have sent an email to students and parent(s)/guardian(s) of those students for whom we are managing their medication(s) to share options for transferring prescriptions to local pharmacies, picking up the remainder from the Rebecca M. Sykes Wellness Center, and offering to review a treatment plan to hand off care to a primary care physician or other healthcare provider at home. If you have questions, please email sykeswellness@andover.edu.

3. How will my healthcare services continue while I am home?

The Sykes Wellness Center team cannot provide telehealth services due to current restrictions on malpractice insurance and state-specific legislation. Please call your primary care physician, who should be at the center of your medical home, with any healthcare needs. Your primary care physician should also be able to refer you to local resources, including those who provide confidential healthcare services as needed. If you have a medical emergency, go to your nearest hospital emergency room and call before you get there. Medical offices and hospitals may be limiting in-person appointments and may be moving to different forms of communication during this time of social distancing.

4. Will you be providing virtual counseling sessions for students and/or families?

Unfortunately, due to licensing regulations and our scope of practice, we are unable to provide counseling (including any kind of virtual counseling, aka telemental health) to students while they are off campus. Nonetheless, we are committed to providing the same level of support and guidance that we do anytime students are off campus. Our counseling team would be happy to partner with families to identify local mental health providers and to collaborate with those providers in order to ensure continuity of care.

5. How can I support myself and my family during this time of distance learning?

The American Academy of Pediatrics has created one of many resources available with ideas for keeping yourself and your family well. Another great free resource is this free guide from Ten Percent Happier. In addition, please continue to adhere to public health guidelines and maintain social (physical) distancing, good hand hygiene, and continue to follow recommendations to stay home as much as possible to minimize the spread of COVID-19 and #flattenthecurve.

6. What should I do if my child has an urgent mental health need?

Please consider the following free, 24/7 options: