Personal resilience is the way we cope with challenging and difficult situations in order to overcome them. Simply put, it’s how we personally recover from stress. The good news is that we can become more resilient, even in the most stressful and unpredictable times such as now.

As healthcare workers, we are already hugely resilient, committed and skilled. It’s what we’ve been trained for and goes with our jobs. Yet with the uncertainty and challenges of the COVID-19 situation, it is completely normal to feel unsettled, anxious and worried. As NHS staff, we are often portrayed as heroes – and we can be. However, it’s unrealistic to be heroic all the time and even heroes need help. This is where this guide comes in.

This ABC guide is a simple set of ideas for maintaining and enhancing your personal resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic.

• Accept and Act
• Body and Brain
• Connection and Community

Our ambition is to rapidly develop evidence-based content that we can dynamically enhance over time. To help us, we’d really value your feedback through a short survey at the end of this guide.

Sources: Major incident Clinical Expertise and associated Literature. Specialist Task Force and Clinical Advisors.