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Feature
Navigating a Pandemic From NATIONAL HEALTH &
a Doctor’s Perspective WELLNESS OBSERVANCES
by Geoffrey Rose, MD, and Anthony Asher, MD SEPTEMBER 2020
Most of us are not infectious disease experts, but all of us know how Alzheimer’s Association Memory Walk n Baby Safety Awareness Month
to keep score. Whether managing our household budgets or tracking Biodiversity Month n Blood Cancer Awareness Month
our fitness, we use numbers daily to direct us in how
to best move forward. So, while there is much we don’t Childhood Cancer Awareness Month n Fruit & Veggies More Matters Month
know about COVID-19, let’s look at what we do know Healthy Aging® Month n National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month
from the numbers. National Cholesterol Education Awareness Month
1: Public health experts aren’t seeing any evidence that National Food Safety Education Month
COVID-19 is receding from our region. In fact, we see National Menopause Awareness Month
the opposite. National Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month
Geoffrey Rose, MD National Preparedness Month n National Recovery Month
National Sickle Cell Disease Awareness Month n National Yoga Month
2: Extreme, though necessary, actions taken during the Prostate Cancer Awareness Month n Prostate Health Month
height of the pandemic back in March were very effective in Sports and Home Eye Safety Month n Whole Grains Month
containing COVID-19, but they came at considerable cost.
Aside from dismantling the national economy, those actions September 1-7: National Childhood Injury Prevention Week
also led to unanticipated health consequences. The number September 6-12: Suicide Prevention Week
of patients seeking heart attack care was 30 percent less
AnthonyAsher,MD than in a typical month, with similar values for stroke care. September 11: National Day of Service and Remembrance
Meanwhile during this time, behavioral health visits spiked. September 13-19: National Assisted Living Week
3: The United States has less than 5 percent of the world’s population, September 16: Backpack Awareness Day
yet roughly 25 percent of the world’s COVID-19 deaths. Allowing that
COVID-19 statistics are underreported in many parts of the world, September 20-26: National Farm Safety and Health Week
consider this: Germany, with an older and presumably higher risk September 20-26: National Rehabilitation Week
population, has a COVID-19 mortality rate 75 percent less than the United September 21: International Day of Peace
States. If the United States had performed similarly, it would have 30,000
COVID-19 deaths instead of the more than 162,000 we’ve recorded. September 30: National Women’s Health & Fitness Day
What do these numbers tell us?
COVID-19 is real, it is impactful and it does not appear to be going CHARLOTTE AHEC COURSE OFFERINGS
anywhere soon. Dealing with COVID-19 will be part of our “new
normal” for the foreseeable future. Charlotte AHEC is part of the N.C. Area Health Education Centers (AHEC) Program and Atrium Health.
Dealing with Short of a vaccine, the most
COVID-19 will be SEPTEMBER 2020
part of our “new effective way to control it — Continuing Medical Education (CME)
normal” for the quarantine with shuttering all but
the most essential activities — also 0 9/30-10/01 Patient Experience Symposium 2020
foreseeable future. produces devastating side effects, not Webinar Project ECHO: Sickle Cell
only in the economic sense, but also Online NRCME DOT Medical Examiners Training Course
directly to our well-being. Online Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19): What Healthcare Providers
Yet, there is a path forward. Other Need to Know
nations have shown there are things Online Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19): An Interview for Practicing
we can do, and should do, to mitigate COVID-19’s impact. At a public Clinicians
health level, COVID-19 testing and contact tracing are vital. At an Online COVID Conversations: Urgent Care Quality Benchmarking Part I
individual level, our choosing to consistently follow a few simple rules Online COVID Conversations: Urgent Care Quality Benchmarking Part II
can make a very meaningful difference: Wash your hands. Stay at Online COVID Conversations: The Effects on Primary Care
home when you feel sick. Maintain social distancing — in particular, Online COVID Conversations: Lessons from Virtual OnDemand in
avoid large indoor crowds. Always wear a mask when out in public. COVID-19 Pandemic
We are all still learning how to cope with COVID-19, a pandemic Online COVID Conversations: A Spiritual Perspective
the likes of which very few of us have ever experienced and one that Online Enhancing Interdisciplinary Opioid Stewardship
none of us fully understands. How successful our community will Online Exercise Prescription for Osteoarthritis and Weight Management
be in managing this pandemic going forward hinges on the sum of Online Providing Quality Care to LGBTQ+ Patients
the individual actions each of us chooses to take. And, in the end, the Online A Case-Based Approach to Interprofessional Collaborative Practice:
numbers one day will mark how committed all of us were in doing Learning About, With, and From Each Other
the right things.
For more information or to register for these courses, call 704-512-6523 or visit www.charlotteahec.org.
8 | September 2020 • Mecklenburg Medicine
