Hawaii Spa Association

Tag: coronavirus

  • Our COVID-19 Response

    Address from Hi-Spa President Cecilia Hercik:

    On behalf of the Hawaii Spa Association, as President I’d like to kindly address concerns related to COVID-19, aka the coronavirus outbreak.

    Within our interconnected network of facilities, companies, management and members across the Hawaiian Islands, we strive to be in contact with each other to control any further spread of the virus, along with making sure to stay connected and informed within our industry. I’d like to bring up that first and foremost, sanitation has always been a number one daily priority for those within the spa industry, not something that is only taken seriously during times of apprehension and distress. The Wellness Industry has always had strict sanitation standards, not just for the guests we provide for but for our employees as well, and each employee that treats with guests is a highly trained professional with the utmost regard for cleanliness and health.

    At Hi-Spa we’re all making sure to do our part to provide the most we can to our members and to everyone affected. If you read further you’ll find incredible sanitation protocols, tips and useful websites from our Information Specialist Shawn Hallum, comforting words of wisdom from Treasurer Darryll Leiman, and helpful connections provided by Vice President Jennifer Holzworth.

    It’s important that we take the time to educate ourselves as much as possible without being swept into the mass unease stirred by other forms of media exposure.

    In these times of distress, remember that your health is ultimately within your control, and stress and anxiety also play an enormous part on the state of your immune system. So from your local team of wellness professionals, remember to breathe, relax, and find calm in the moments you can while taking those extra steps to maintain your health and wellbeing.

    Mahalo, Cecilia Hercik & Hi-Spa Board

    Address from Hi-Spa Vice President Jennifer Holzworth:

    Aloha Members & Team,

    I am proud to say that we of the Hi-Spa Board not only prioritize the health and protection within our own facilities, but we also feel strongly that we need to be setting an example for all spas and wellness centers out there. In addition to this letter the Board has created to address the concerns of COVID-19 to our members, we have also included helpful resources and best practices to observe and use in your own facilities or homes.

    The changes we can be making don’t have to be earth shattering, they can be small directional shifts that help everybody take small steps in the right direction towards maintaining our health; for example we have been working to adjust the verbiage of our local cancellation policy to state something along the lines of: “Please be prepared that if you are experiencing any flu like symptoms, your services may need to be rescheduled for a later time.” Simple words like this added to the health waiver at sign in can make all the difference in the world.

    While stress is high and the days are rough, we will continue to work hard to be as genuine and kind as possible during these troubling times. Rosa Say, one of our strongest resources, gives us some valuable words of advice to those of us who are in a place of management on truly Managing with Aloha during this state of unrest.

    Mahalo for your support, and we hope this letter provides insight and perspective to all who need it.

    Jennifer Holzworth & Hi-Spa Board

    Address from Hi-Spa Treasurer Darryll Leiman:

    Aloha Hi-Spa members:

    We are certainly living in unprecedented times…. Who would ever think that cruise ships around the world could be quarantined at sea, the sudden drop in air travel, hotel occupancies down internationally, double-digit drops in the stock market and whole countries in a precautionary lockdown all because of a tiny virus causing so much angst worldwide.

    It is especially now that we in the spa industry need to be a beacon of calm and grounded-ness, an island of tranquility in this sea of uncertainty that surrounds us. As we watch and monitor the situation, we need to keep focused on our mission, revisit our protocols and procedures, and continue doing what we always do. Safety, health and wellbeing is the goal we strive for every day. We always sanitize, wash our hands, keep our areas immaculately clean, and offer the simple oshibori or cleansing treatment. That is what we are trained to do, and that is what we always do. We need to set the example, keep focused and remain the professionals we are all trained to be, taking care of the wellbeing of our guests and team members.

    As Rudyard Kipling might have said….If you can keep your head when all others around you are losing theirs…..you are a “spa” leader, my colleagues.

    Please note too, our scheduled “Practice What You Preach” event for Spa Directors has been put on hold until such time as we feel it is safe and appropriate to hold such an event. We will reinstate as soon as possible.

    Thank you, Darryll Leiman & Hi-Spa Board

    Address from Hi-Spa Information Specialist Shawn Hallum:

    Please review the updated in-house protocols to be used within your facilities to help protect against the COVID-19 outbreak.

    Hi-Spa COVID-19 Protocols

    Employee:

    • Any employee experiencing the symptoms of COVID-19 (including fever, sore throat, persistent cough) should not come to work. Employees are reminded to follow the protocols for calling out sick.
    • Employees should avoid contact with sick people, maintaining a six-foot distance whenever possible.
    • Cover your coughs and sneezes with tissue.
    • All employees to wash hands with soap and hot water for 20 seconds (or use a hand sanitizer that is at least 60% alcohol) after any interaction with a guest or employee. Therapists must include washing forearms (to elbow).
    • All employees should minimize touching their eyes, nose and mouth.
    • Therapists refrain from handshake during welcome/departure with guest. Utilize a welcome gesture or bow instead.
    • Therapists must verbalize to guests that they have washed their hands prior to the commencement of service and that the treatment room has been sanitized in accordance with industry standards and CDC
    • recommendations.
    • All employees must wear disposable gloves when handling towels, linens and other items that go in the laundry. Dispose of gloves after each use. If using reusable gloves, those gloves should be dedicated for cleaning and disinfection of surfaces for COVID-19 and should not be used for other purposes. Clean hands immediately after gloves are removed. If possible, do not shake dirty laundry (this will minimize the possibility of dispersing virus through the air).

    Guest:

    • Offer every guest the opportunity to wash their hands prior to the commencement of treatment
    • Confidently respond to any questions or concerns you receive from guests about the actions we’re taking to keep everyone healthy, including our protocols for sanitization.
    • Guests who have health conditions for which spa services are contraindicated will be rescheduled when they have fully recovered. This includes guests who disclose that they are feeling ill or if a potentially contagious illness is apparent to employees. Obvious symptoms include coughs, fever, and shortness of breath.

    Facility

    • Massage therapists and estheticians should continue to follow our standards for sanitization, which include disinfection of tables and equipment after each use.
    • Fitness Centers should schedule a full time person to non-stop sanitize all the equipment, yoga mats, foam rollers, blocks, weight bars, dumbbells, kettlebells, sandballs, etc.
    • Beauty Salon should allocate extra time between services to sanitize the entire station ( instruments, scissors, combs, flat irons, brushes, chair, capes, counters, etc).

    COVID-19 Facility/Equipment Sanitation Procedures

    • All surfaces susceptible to human contact must be cleaned after each guest use or every three hours, whichever comes first. These surfaces include, but are not limited to:
    • All door handles to all interior and exterior doors o Lounge chairs
    • Water dispensers
    • Sinks and countertops
    • Locker doors
    • Shower controls
    • Sink controls
    • Pens
    • iPad surface
    • Telephone ear piece, mouth piece and buttons on Computer keyboard(s)
    • Receptionist countertops
    • Workstations
    • Employee Microwave and Refrigerator handles
    • If surfaces are dirty, they should be cleaned using a detergent or soap and water prior to disinfection.
    • Household cleaners and EPA-registered disinfectants should be used, following all label precautions.
    • For disinfection, diluted household bleach solutions, alcohol solutions with at least 70% alcohol, and most common EPA-registered household disinfectants should be effective.
    • Diluted household bleach solutions can be used if appropriate for the surface. Follow manufacturer’s instructions for application and proper ventilation. Check to ensure the product is not past its expiration date.
    • Never mix household bleach with ammonia or any other cleanser.
    • Unexpired household bleach will be effective against coronaviruses when properly diluted as follows:
    • 5 tablespoons (1/3rd cup) bleach per gallon of water or
    • 4 teaspoons bleach per quart of water
    • Products with EPA-approved emerging viral pathogens claims are expected to be effective against COVID-19 based on data for harder to kill viruses. Make sure to wear disposable gloves when cleaning.
    • Launder items as appropriate in accordance with our laundry vendor’s protocols. Note that dirty linens from an ill person can be washed with other people’s items, so there is no increased risk of transmission when the laundry is washed properly.
    • Clean and disinfect clothes hampers according to guidance above for surfaces. If possible, line the hampers with a bag that is either disposable or can be laundered.

    Information

    In addition, we encourage you to proactively educate yourself on any new developments. We also found the following links that you may find informative and helpful:

    Mahalo and safe and healthy regards,

    Shawn Hallum & Hi-Spa Board

  • Silver Linings and Our New Normal

    **The following content is from Rosa Say’s weekly newsletter**

    Aloha mai kākou, Let’s talk story. This week… there are choices to be made, and new habits to be forged in our lessons with social distancing and sheltering at home. There is also much good to be found!

    “This will be the end of Twitter if outbreaks of courtesy like this don’t stop.” —Tom Nichols, when a disagreement broke through to more clarity and understanding.

    The phrase “life comes at you fast” has settled into the forefront of my awareness this week; you too? I’ve also counted the blessing of our value of the month practice once again, in how serendipitous it can be; if there was ever a time to dwell on ‘Imi ola choices with “Seeking your best possible life,” surely, this is it!

    Suggested MWA Review: ‘Imi ola, the Value of Mission and Vision. #achoicewasmade

    Ho‘ohana Conversations

    Our New Normal

    I’ve never before thought of myself as an “elder at risk” or as ‘non-essential’ yet here we are! Here in the Say household, I’m on day 22 sheltering in place voluntarily; my last ‘business as usual’ outing was on February 26th, a Wednesday. By the time the week ended every one of my future business engagements had been canceled, and understandably so—I initiated the calls to any clients I’d not yet heard from. Yesterday was day 1 for my husband, as the day his employer trimmed his normally full-time schedule to an on-call (and unlikely) one. His personal ramifications aside, he is one who feels his employer, a hotelier, should be closing their doors completely for the best welfare of all… we’ve been amazed by the number of wealthier travelers who selfishly, callously – and erroneously – feel they can somehow escape the pandemic here in Hawai‘i given our location as the remotest inhabited place on earth, expecting others to serve them without disruption or any inconvenience.

    According the New York Times, a new study suggests that the coronavirus is “hiding in plain sight,” and that for every known case of Covid19, another 7 to 10 cases are “out there” undetected. Please, please follow the hygienic requirements and social distancing recommendations now shared to keep yourself healthy as we ride out the evolution of this novel virus. It’s the most generous, giving thing each individual can do, for in a ‘novel virus’ we have not gone through a cycle of responding biologically with our own human immunity. For now, and perhaps forevermore, everyone must think of themselves as an easily crossed bridge to someone who is more vulnerable.

    Coronavirus timeline at NBC News: Tracking the critical moments of COVID-19.

    Good Read at The Guardian: The family lockdown guide: how to emotionally and structurally prepare for coronavirus quarantine. An oldie but goodie: You are Your Habits, so Make ‘em Good!

    Habits are powerful – think of them as human magic. Lifestyle adjustments and habit changes can be challenging, yet this is also a time to ask yourself, “Should this be a change I keep forevermore?” each time you encounter a silver lining, such as new standards of cleanliness, polite social distancing, and other Kākou behaviors. Learn from history, and let past accomplishments inspire you: From the Washington Post: During a pandemic, Isaac Newton had to work from home, too. He used the time wisely.

    Silver Linings

    Adversity does 2 things for us: It proves how much we are capable of as human beings, and it exposes shortfalls we have not worked on and solved. Our radar intensifies during hard times, and we will see, and freshly analyze and reconsider issues that were previously relegated to our someday/maybe wish lists before.

    “When we talk about ‘getting back to normal,’ we need to rethink the effect of human encroachment on the natural habitats of other living creatures.” – @HawaiiDelilah commenting on the dolphins returning to Sardinian waters without the toxic polluting of ships and ferries. “Wow… Earth is recovering – Air pollution is slowing down – Water pollution is clearing up – Natural wildlife returning home… Coronavirus is Earth’s vaccine… We’re the virus.” – Thomas Schultz

    In Work

    When you don’t “have” to, you “get” to. The silver lining in my own 22 days at home and counting, has been the opportunity to work on my passion issues via more research, data collection and study. The mainstay of my work is value alignment, the role of the manager, and workplace culture-building as reflected in the 9 Key Concepts, whereas my passion issues include financial literacy, a living wage for all labor done, and the reconstruction of business models – I consider them the most pressing concepts within the ‘Ohana in Business® model;

    As Steven Pinker has said, “If you’re committed to progress, you can’t very well claim to have it all figured out.” Like many of you right now, I do think about our loss of revenue as my husband and I learn to better appreciate our time at home together away from the work which normally pays our bills. Yet I must say I am loving the time I now have to work on my passion issues, and on other hot buttons!

    (e.g. I fully agree with the caveats and conditions Senator Elizabeth Warren outlines here, when she says, “We’re not writing blank checks to giant corporations. Any taxpayer dollars that go to help big businesses during the coronavirus crisis should come with the following minimum requirements…”) What are your passion projects, and how might you be able to work on them right now? Suggested MWA Review on those shortfalls adversity tends to illuminate for us: Ho‘omau, the Value of Perseverance, and Ho‘omau; Love the one you’re with: “Love the one you’re with” is better coaching than “practice continuous improvement.” It sounds more intriguing, and well worth one’s effort. Yet the two phrases are the same, both framing an essential business practice; necessary reiteration, the constant tweaking to get ever better at whatever it is we do.

    At Home

    In one of the more recent governmental responses to the pandemic, comes the decision by the Trump administration to invoke the Defense Production Act to help make up for potential medical supply shortages and deploy two hospital ships as the US battles the coronavirus pandemic. As my at-home habits for the long haul evolve, my own thoughts have been on victory gardens:

    “For the average American in World War II, the Victory Garden was a practical way to contribute to the war effort. Some 20 million Victory Gardens were planted (US population in 1940 was 132 million), and by 1943, these little plots produced 40 percent of all vegetables consumed in the US. It’s estimated that 9-10 million tons of vegetables were grown.” – Victory Gardens in World War II, UC Master Gardener Program of Sonoma County

    Yesterday morning for example, I was ready to pull out one of 3 eggplant shrubs still thriving in my garden after planting them last Fall – they are prolific producers, and there is only so much eggplant our family can eat. I fertilized, watered, and let them be, challenging myself to think more broadly instead – surely I can share them with more friends and neighbors.

    My Auhili Garden is as far as I’m walking for exercise right now. We’ve planted tomatoes, turnips, radishes, snap peas and microgreens this week, all quick growers and high producers. Birds are nesting, gently (and noisily!) reminding us that life goes on and we must nurture it best we can.

    This useful, calming advice, which I recommend it highly, comes from historian Shane Landrum, PhD;

    “Start keeping a journal today, ideally a hand written one if that’s within your ability. Write about what you’re seeing in the news, how your family and friends are responding, what is closed in your neighborhood or city or state or country. Save it…Do it by hand, on paper. The hand-writing will adjust your brain. It will take you offline and out of the swirl of news and hopefully, for a moment, into a little bit of peace in the midst of crisis.” He explains; “I worked at a news organization on 9/11/2001, and I recognize the ways that my very online professional networks communicate in a time of global crisis. What’s going on this week is like that. The feeling in my gut about historical importance is nearly the same…Sometimes you know you’re living through an event that will be in the history books very large. I study the history of public health and information technology and law and politics. There’s so much going on that touches all of those things this week.”

    Be a historian and an analog curator for you and for your family.

    Bonus link on Managing With Aloha: Curate, and Be Curated.

    In my own curation, I am seeking out silver linings and acts of generosity and kindness during this pandemic, such as this one: Old Fourth Distillery usually produces premium vodka, gin and bourbon. Now, it’s hand sanitizer. Please send me a pointer on what you find businesses are doing to be better.

    Mālama pono – take care of yourself. I’ll end with some coaching from fitness expert Brad Stulberg on Wellness—the kind that actually works. (Last I checked, the link to Outside Online was broken, however I captured his tips on this MWA blog post). Have a great week, we Ho‘ohana Kākou, Rosa