Talk! with Audrey

COVID-19 continues to upend normal life and put stress on individuals, families, communities and businesses, alike. While much of the world's population exercises social distancing or experiences total lockdown to protect one’s physical health, the resulting feelings of isolation may exacerbate two other growing health problems – loneliness in the elderly, and the ongoing, global mental health crisis. Dr. William Kassler, Deputy Health Officer and Lead Population Health Officer, IBM Watson Health. We talk about how technology can help individuals, businesses and communities protect mental health and alleviate loneliness during COVID-19 pandemic.

The new number one Netflix docuseries ‘Tiger King" is full of eccentric stories and characters, however the criminal histories from the underworld of wild and exotic animal exhibitors are far more broad-reaching and serious. The legal team at People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is leading the charge against colourful, criminal, captive wildlife exploiters in the United States. Jeff Kerr General Counsel to PETA.

Over the last decade, the circular economy movement has offered a powerful way for companies to enable greater production and consumption with fewer negative environmental impacts. As the 50th anniversary of Earth Day approaches, Jessica Long, Managing Director at Accenture Strategy and co-author of “The Circular Economy Handbook” released this January at the World Economic Forum in Davos, joins me to discuss how companies can eliminate waste by fundamentally changing the way we produce and consume – creating a healthier, thriving environment and economy.

Throughout the national emergency, Vietnam War veteran  and American Legion National Commander Bill Oxford has continued to lead the nation’s largest veterans’ organisation as many American Legion posts closed their homes and postponed events due to coronavirus concerns. Commander Oxford tells us how they are supporting national, community recovery efforts throughout  the Coronavirus Epidemic.

Even prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, recent surveys found a broad worsening of mental health indicators among college students. Two leading groups specialising in evidence-based technology to support youth well-being have teamed up to help students cope with these challenges and combat isolation, filling the gap widened by COVID-19.  Hopelab and Grit Digital Health recently released NOD, an app that helps young adults develop and cultivate deep social connections and develop resilience . My guest is Dr. Danielle Ramo. Senior Director of Research at Hopelab and Adjunct Associate Professor of Psychiatry at UC San Francisco.

COVID-19 is affecting communities around the world. To support communities, IBM is offering a Watson-based virtual agent dubbed "Watson Assistant for Citizens" to government agencies, healthcare and academic institutions free of charge for at least 90 days so they can provide their citizens/constituents with answers to their questions about the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. My guest is  Toby Cappello, Vice President in IBM's Data and A.I. business.

In honor of the Month of the Military Child in April , Hunt Military Communities (HMC) is recognising dependent children of military members nationwide, who are making a difference, with its ”Hunt Little Heroes” program. Lynette Hegeman, Marketing Director, Hunt Military Communities has the details.

The Wounded Warrior project has made a $10 million commitment to help meet the immediate needs of warriors who are in financial crisis due to the coronavirus pandemic, Retired Lieutenant General Mike Linnington the CEO of the Wounded Warrior Project is going to tell us how they're helping these veterans and their families.

Dr. Stella Safo is an internist and primary care physician, based in New York City, Chief Clinical Transformation Officer for Premier Applied Sciences. In 2020, Modern Healthcare listed Safo as a “Top 25 Minority Leader to Watch”. She has served as lead for the Minority in Medicine special interest group for the Society of General Internal Medicine (SGIM) and is an active member of the Health Equity Committee (HEC) at SGIM. We talk about the Covid- 19 Pandemic, some of the challenges that healthcare providers are facing in treating patients, the racial disparities in healthcare, the emotional and psychological impact on healthcare workers, how the decision is made to take someone off a ventilator and more!

Insurers pay billions of dollars each year to cover losses caused by severe weather but, unfortunately, sometimes those payments end up in the pockets of unscrupulous contractors. Those contractors follow the path of damage caused by severe storms around the country soliciting business door-to-door. Dr. Tanya Brown-Giammanco, Managing Director of Research at IBHS joins me to talk about common roofing scams and the fight to stop the criminals who commit them.