SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4 News) – The College of Nursing at the University of Utah is beginning support groups for people who are recovering from or who have lost a loved one to COVID-19; they are free and open to the public. 

The nurses and psychiatrists at The U say at this point in our pandemic, they are seeing a big need for people to connect with others who might have similar experiences with COVID-19. The clinicians are opening up two types of groups through The U’s Caring Connections department, one for people in recovery and another for people who have lost a loved one. 

Each group will meet weekly on Tuesday nights over Zoom and the groups will be capped at eight people; if there’s a large response to the program, Caring Connections is prepared to open up more groups with funding from the CARES Act. 

Kathie Supiano is the Director of Caring Connections for the U of U College of Nursing, she explained, “The group has its own power to heal. It’s one thing for me to tell a client, it’s normal that you feel this way, but it’s another thing for a person to be surrounded by others who actually share that experience. That’s profoundly validating, normalizing, and affirming.”

If you are interested in joining a group, visit the Caring Connections website for a short enrollment process.