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Join my conversation with the Deputy Chief Health Officer at IBM, with a 350,000-person global workforce, about measures that major companies are taking during the COVID-19 pandemic, including recommendations for employee mental health.
The world’s population is facing considerable social and economic disruption. Millions of employees and employers are adjusting to circumstances not seen for over a century. For many of us the “new normal” is working from home, which may cause additional stress as we deal with our job, spouses, kids, parents, and pets — not to mention anxiety regarding the coronavirus infection itself.
In a recent Axios-Ipsos poll surveying 1,000 people, 43% of respondents said their emotional well-being had gotten worse in the past week as more people deal with isolation.  
As we try to keep ourselves and our families safe and cope with the stress of physical isolation and disrupted routines, we can succumb to feelings of isolation, anxiousness, and loneliness. For those with anxiety, depression, or other mental health challenges, coping with this stress can aggravate underlying conditions. Managing our mental health problems, for a host of reasons, can often include shame or stigma, and continues to take a backseat to promoting physical wellness.
William J. Kassler, MD, MPH is the Deputy Chief Health Officer for IBM. Dr. Kassler has spent his career working at the intersection of clinical care and population health; as a practicing primary care internist, epidemiologist, health services researcher, public sector administrator, and health policy expert. You can read his latest work, Turning Barriers Into Benefits to Facilitate Public Health and Business Partnership, in the American Journal of Public Health.
Watch a clip from the interview:

Resources Mentioned in This Episode:

App: GRIT app for veterans
Online service: Tiatros Personal Growth and Psychological Resilience at Work and Home
Online service: meQuilibrium stress-resilience and wellbeing platform
Podcast WHE32: Boosting Stress Resilience for Employees | with Andrew Shatté from meQuilibrium
App: IBM’s Weather Channel app now includes free tools for tracking COVID-19
IBM action guide: Protecting mental health during a pandemic
IBM report: How technology and data can improve access to mental health resources (includes curated list of apps and online services, on page 5)
Twitter: @KasslerMD
Linkedin: /william-kassler

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