What can the business community do to stop this pandemic? What is the private sector’s role in helping keep our communities safe?

What can the business community do to stop this pandemic? What is the private sector’s role in helping keep our communities safe?

Prompt

Take a listen to one of these five interesting video talks about the Coronavirus Pandemic. Your Choice.

All address behavioral and social factors, which are just as important as the infectious disease biology in controlling a pandemic.

Any of them will help you to fully appreciate the public health challenges of quelling outbreaks and persuading people to follow public health guidelines.

OPTION 1

THE ENDURING IMPACT OF CORONAVIRUS. COMMONWEALTH CLUB CONVERSATION.

Join Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy in a conversation at the Commonwealth Club in SF with Dr. Nicolas Kristakis, social historian and physician, author of Apollo’s Arrow, a new book on how the Coronavirus pandemic fits in. They take a comprehensive look at the social factors of pandemics – from the 1918 Spanish flu to the novel coronavirus pandemic – what’s the same and what’s different.

Why are people so angry about mask wearing and some even skeptical that the pandemic is real? How can we cope as a society and as individuals with the harsh reality of the pandemic? What does our future look like, including for the next pandemic? Students last spring loved this interview enlightening and fun to watch. 75 min.

Commonwealth Club: The Enduring Impact of Coronavirus (Links to an external site.)

OPTION 2

UPDATE & STRATEGIES FOR GETTING MORE PEOPLE VACCINATED: UCSF GRAND ROUNDS.

Join Dr. Bob Watchtel, Chairman, Dept. of Medicine, UCSF Medical School, and 4 top doctors/researchers who are experts on epidemiology or behavioral economics, for an interesting discussion on the pros and cons of using incentives – like a million dollar lottery, free beer or donuts – for motivating people to get vaccinated.

This discussion is preceded by an update on the state of the pandemic in early June 2021, which is short and a bit “stale”, useful just to see how epidemiologists compile & use data to get a good picture of what’s happening all over the world, nationally, in California-crucial to managing the pandemic.

The major part of the discussion is about using incentives/rewards in different ways to motivate behavior change .This directly relates to your behavioral projects, so you will be able to relate ! Fast paced & controversial, this part packs a lot into 45 min.

UCSF Grand Rounds on Motivating Vaccinations (Links to an external site.)

OPTION 3

THE PREMONITION: HOW EARLY PANDEMIC SPOTTERS IN PUBLIC HEALTH WERE SHUNTED ASIDE & WE LOST CONTROL OF THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC

Join author Michael Lewis (also author of such best sellers such as Moneyball, Liar’s Poker, The Big Short) as he talks about doing research with public health officials on how the novel coronavirus pandemic got out of hand in the U. S. He uncovers shocking truths about the US Public Health system, and shows how hard it is for people to open their minds and change their ways. This riveting tale will be coming to a theatre near you soon! Engaging interview. 60 min

The Premonition: Interview with Michael Lewis (Links to an external site.) 60 min

Option 4

Twists & Turns with The Fall Pandemic: UCSF Grand Rounds

Want to focus on recent updates ?

Join Dr. Bob Wachter, Chief, Dept of Medicine & his UCSF colleagues as they discuss the most recent controversies about where we are with the pandemic and what to do to end it- the impact of the Delta variant, vaccination progress or lack thereof, and booster shots. The pandemic is evolving as we speak.

You may choose either one of the following ( about 1 hour) depending on your interests:

August 12

The 4th Surge: Delta Variant, Vaccines, Boosters & More (Links to an external site.)

This one has some good info on the virology of the Delta variant with San Diego’s Dr. Shane Crotty and the director of the Emory U School of Public Health.

Sept 9

The 4th Surge: Opening Schools, Vaccines, Boosters (Links to an external site.)

This one features 3 UCSF epi or infectious disease experts in a lively discussion of vaccines, boosters and how opening schools is changing the risk picture. Thought provoking & timely.

Oct 14

UCSF Medical Center Grand Rounds: Covid 19: Lessons Learned and What’s Ahead (Links to an external site.)

Join Dr. Bob Wachter as he interviews Dr. Ashesh Ja, Dean of the Brown University School of Public Health (you’ve seen him on TV during the pandemic), as they chat about what we got right and wrong in PH so far in the pandemic, how to think about boosters, going back to school and travel, and what he foresees developing as we “learn to live with” the novel coronavirus as it becomes endemic. 10/14/21

Option 5 What is the Way Out ? Can Businesses Help Solve This Public Health Crisis ?

As the devastating effects and tragic loss of life from COVID-19 persist 18 months after the global pandemic began, the world is desperate to end this public health crisis.

As businesses across industries are rolling out varying degrees of vaccine, testing, and masking mandates, President Biden announced the requirement for federal workers, medium and large employers, and health-care staff to be vaccinated. Working together and partnering with government and community leaders, the private sector plays a role in helping to close the vaccination gap in our workforce and communities.

What can the business community do to stop this pandemic? What is the private sector’s role in helping keep our communities safe? How are organizations responding to local, state and federal mandates? What processes are working and not working? What will it take to return to a strong and stable economy?

Join a panel of business leaders across industries discussing opportunities to address this public health crisis and how we can work together to end it. I hour Panel Discussion.

Sponsored by Kaiser Permanente Health Systems.

Destination Health: The Role of the Private Sector in Ending the Pandemic (Links to an external site.)

Option 6: Risk: A User’s Guide 

Retired four-star General Stan McChrystal has lived a life associated with the deadly risks of combat. From his first day at West Point, to his years in Afghanistan, to his efforts helping business leaders navigate a global pandemic, McChrystal has seen how individuals and organizations fail to mitigate risk. Why?

Because they focus on the probability of something happening instead of the interface by which it can be managed. In a crisis like a pandemic, there is a challenge with how to organize a complex response and how to communicate to the populace what is happening and what is needed to respond effectively.

In his new book, Risk: A User’s Guide, McChrystal and co-author Anna Butrico offer a battle-tested system for detecting and responding to risk. They offer an alternative way of maintaining a healthy “risk immune system” that involves monitoring 10 different dimensions of control the authors say can be adjusted at any time to effectively anticipate, identify, analyze and act upon the ever-present possibility that things will not go as planned. This kind of leadership is crucial to mounting an effective crisis response.

After touching on his experience in Afghanistan, and recent developments there, Gen McCrystal focuses on the pandemic risk – what went wrong with public health and political leadership, and what is needed to set things back on the right track.

Risk: A New Perspective (Links to an external site.)

Discuss:

After viewing your choice,

• What did you learn that was intriguing or new about controlling a pandemic? Was there anything which surprised you?
• Can you apply any of the information to yourself or your family?
• What do you think should have been done differently with pandemic control this past year?
• What should be done differently going forward, based on what you learned?

Guidelines

• Your initial response should be 250-350 words in length, reflecting on the prompt above.
• Reply to at least two classmates’ posts. Your response to your classmate’s discussion should be around 50 words (each) and add to the discussion (i.e. reflecting on their response, asking questions, etc.).