From my front row seat in global health, I have seen many waves in recent decades – HIV/AIDS, the women’s health movement, the fight against TB and malaria, maternal and under-five childhood mortality, malnutrition in all its forms, NCDs and their prevention, SARS, H1N1, Ebola, MDGs, SDGs, UHC, and more. The world’s willingness to tackle seemingly intractable problems has given me hope. COVID-19, though, is unprecedented and puts in sharp focus many fissures and cracks in the way we view health, leadership, family values, and indeed the way we live and work.
The more I read and think, the more I believe that once COVID-19 is behind us, when a vaccine has been found, and a stable world order has been restored, the fall-out from this physical health crisis will include:
- A monumental mental health crisis
- A fundamental reimagination of the workplace of the future
- A huge impact on the education system. Especially concerning is an indelible impact on the world outlook of those currently in college and high school.
Arogya World will examine these issues at some length in our curated webinar series – Emerge Stronger From COVID. This month is Mental Health Month in the US and to mark that we bring you a webinar on The Mental Health Fall Out from COVID – 19 on May 12 @ 8.30 am PST. Register here.
We bring you an incredible speaker – Garen Staglin, the legendary founder of One Mind and One Mind at Work. Garen is an inspiring and dynamic business leader, the head of the amazing Staglin family that mobilizes all of Napa Valley to rally around brain health research in an iconic music and wine and science festival each year. With fierce determination, Garen is investing in brain health research and is mobilizing CEOs around the world to confront and tackle mental health in the workplace. Arogya World, the non-profit I founded, is proud to partner with One Mind at Work on our Healthy Workplace program in India.
In a conversation with Garen, one of the foremost mental health advocates in the country, on May 12, at 11.30 am on the East Coast and 9 pm in India, we will examine some of the toughest questions concerned global citizens are asking about mental health today:
- What are the reasons for the increase in mental health issues during COVID? Is it anxiety over jobs? Uncertainty for the future? Loneliness and Isolation? Is this the new normal? When do you think it will end?
- When is the big mental illness surge coming?
- How should America – and the world – prepare for the mental health fall out from COVID?
- How should the healthcare system be re-tooled to deal with this big surge? How are policy makers looking at this? How do you think technology and mental health will interface post-COVID?
- What can companies do to take care of the wellbeing of their employees post-COVID?
- What is the impact of COVID on the psychological health of healthcare workers?
- How can families make themselves more resilient?
- What behavioral health research underway gives you hope?
We encourage you to join us and participate in this important discussion on May 12. Register here.
A recent Washington Post article, “The coronavirus pandemic is pushing America into a mental health crisis,” outlines how the U.S. is ill-prepared for the coming crisis.
We have more sessions that you may want to engage in – a continuation of our workplace health webinars in India (register here), eating right during COVID (register here) and why people with underlying diabetes are at higher risk for COVID (register here.) See our COVID Resources page here.