Childcare Services for Essential Healthcare Workers

In order to support essential healthcare workers during the COVID19 pandemic, students at Washington University (WashU) are volunteering to provide short-term childcare in providers’ homes. With schools and daycare centers closed, our volunteers provide informal babysitting services such that providers can return to work and continue to serve our community during this difficult time. This is an interdisciplinary initiative, including student volunteers from the medical, physical therapy, occupational therapy, and graduate schools. Volunteering with this childcare initiative is primarily extracurricular; however, third year WashU medical students who commit at least 30 hours a week to volunteering can earn a fourth-year elective credit while their clerkships are on hold. Furthermore, we are collaborating with infectious disease experts and faculty at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis to best protect providers and students and to limit the risk of exposure.