COVID-19 Year 5: Are We Prepared for the Next Pandemic?

Please join us for a free fireside chat with acclaimed epidemiologist Dr. Michael Osterholm, author of the upcoming book The Big One: How to Prepare for World-Altering Pandemics to Come. As we enter the fifth year of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has claimed over 1.1 million American lives to date (most of them unvaccinated), social workers are understandably eager to put this public health crisis in the rearview mirror. But as experts on the traumatic impacts of these disasters, and the complex psychosocial and related factors in disaster response, social workers have a unique professional obligation to consider: How can we best prepare for the next pandemic? Dr. Osterholm, founding Director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy and advisor to the Biden Administration on COVID-19 response, will discuss lessons learned from current and prior pandemics, and the hard truths about what it will take to prevent a catastrophe worse than COVID-19. Importantly, he will discuss the crucial leadership role of social workers in pandemic preparedness and response.   What do these trends this mean for our preparedness – as a profession and as a society - for the next pandemic? How can social workers continue to play a leadership role in preventing further harms and losses due to COVID-19? Learning Objectives:

1. Provide an update on the current state of the COVID-19 pandemic, now in Year 5;
2. Discuss the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic for preparedness for the next pandemic;
3. Identify opportunities for leadership and action by micro-, mezzo- and macro-level social workers.

This project and webinar presentation are supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of a financial assistance award totaling $3.3 million with 100 percent funded by CDC/HHS. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by CDC/HHS, or the U.S. Government.

Credit(s):1.5 Social Work Course Number:NAT20240508

Duration:1 hour 30 minutes

Access:Available for 5 months after event date

Date:May 8, 2024 1:00 PM - 2:30 PM ((GMT-05:00) Eastern Time (US & Canada))