Coronavirus: Keeping Our Children and Ourselves Safe, with Dr. Pamela Cantor

In this special edition of The 180 Podcast on the coronavirus, host Chris Riback talks with Pamela Cantor, M.D., Turnaround for Children's Founder and Senior Science Advisor, about how to address the fear, stress and disruption caused by the pandemic.

A new strain of coronavirus has created a global crisis. Humans never encountered this strain until just a few months ago, so don’t have immunity or protective factors against it as with viruses that have been around a long time. There is no vaccine and no medications to treat it, yet. It is also highly contagious and can lead to death, especially among the elderly and those with underlying health conditions. The virus is already straining the capacity of governments and health care systems to confront it. Schools, businesses and borders are closed, and global financial markets are reeling.

Americans are being told to stay home in order to be safe. But to provide physical safety, means disruption of the very things that produce emotional safety, namely the human connections everyone needs to feel secure, cope with stress, manage fear, and surmount this crisis. School and college-aged students are being separated from their teachers and friends, a sudden disruption made more acute because so many students depend on their schools for food, health care, and adults they trust.

The massive change in the way Americans live, learn and work is the biggest problem for young people today and the adults surrounding and supporting them. So the engineering problem becomes how to create both physical AND emotional safety at the same time for all children. 

During this special edition of The 180, Dr. Cantor offers insights and advice on how we can help children and the people who love and care for them weather this unprecedented emergency.

For more information, go to www.turnaroundusa.org/podcast/