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The Vitalyst Spark podcast explores what it means to create a healthy community in Arizona.
Episodes
Tuesday Dec 22, 2020
Tuesday Dec 22, 2020
Welcome to the final Vitalyst Spark podcast of 2020. We are finishing this year with our 20th COVID-19 Roundtable just after Emergency Use Authorization for a second vaccine from Moderna. It also arrives among very long shadows cast by record high new daily and weekly case counts, record high hospitalizations, and unthinkable numbers of deaths. The U.S. is experiencing fatality rates that are equivalent to or greater than a daily 9/11. Some realities of how we are handling this pandemic have become maddeningly frustrating. Meanwhile, other realities have to be acknowledged as part of a learning curve. And still others – like getting two highly effective vaccines developed in less than a year – are to be celebrated. We’re going to touch on all three of those realities in today’s discussion.
What can you do this holiday season? Enjoy it. Safely. That means not only should you wash up, mask up, and keep a heads up for your fellow Arizonans out there. It also means that we’ve got to slow down the spread. And that means that we all need to shrink our circle. The more people we bump into, the more chance there is for COVID-19 to spread. It’s that simple, so please: be COVID smart. The capacity of our health care system to care for our fellow Arizonans is at stake. The well-being of our frontline health care workers is at stake. The lives of so many Arizonans are too. Do you part. Shrink your circle of contact. Be COVID smart.
Alright, let’s get to it. It’s time to talk about the numbers, health care capacity, front line worker burnout, contact tracing, state metrics for businesses and schools, vaccines, the powers of science, the media, and more… as of December 21, 2020.
Tuesday Dec 08, 2020
Tuesday Dec 08, 2020
Today’s COVID-19 Roundtable is a little schizophrenic. On the one hand, we can see the light at the end of the tunnel, in the form of pending emergency use authorizations and vaccine rollouts. On the other hand, you can expect somewhere between 36 and 70 Americans to die just in the time it takes for you to listen to this podcast episode at regular speed. In Arizona, case counts are at new highs, hospital capacities are being strained, and there is no sign that any of these numbers will soon peak or decrease. In fact, the sobering reality is that the opposite is true.
In the near term especially, we need to take extra special care of ourselves and our communities. As you’ll hear from our guests in this episode, we’ve got to do everything we can using what we now know. Three factors determine potential for infection: people, space, and time. More people = more risk, less space = more risk, and longer time = more risk. There is a big difference between a well-spaced walk in the park and a small, indoor bar that’s filled with people. Bars and restaurants have been shown to be more risky for COVID-19 by a significant factor. The CDC is urging us to limit travel and to limit the number of people at. Do your best Arizona. Wash up, mask up, and maintain physical distancing to help manage the risks of people, space, and time.
Alright, let’s get to it. It’s time to about the latest information on vaccines – but also what’s happening with community spread and health care systems as of December 7, 2020.
Tuesday Nov 24, 2020
Tuesday Nov 24, 2020
This roundtable arrives after another two weeks of big, and fast, developments. Generally speaking, we can lump most of what’s happened into two buckets – the good news (about vaccines in particular), and the not-so-good news (about big COVID-19 case increases nationwide, including here in Arizona). This episode was recorded just three days prior to a very unusual Thanksgiving holiday: no Macy’s parade, Thanksgiving football with few people actually in stadiums, and strong recommendations from public health officials about large gatherings for extended periods of time indoors. Here’s one way to think about your Thanksgiving celebrations: we can now see the light at the end of this COVID-19 tunnel, but we’re not there yet.
Our health and well-being is shaped by three factors that determine exposure to potential viral load: people, space, and time. More people = more risk, less space = more risk, and longer time = more risk. There is a big difference between a well-spaced walk in the park and a small, indoor bar that’s filled with people. Bars and restaurants have been shown to be more risky for COVID-19 by a significant factor. The CDC is urging us to limit travel and to limit the number of people at family gatherings. Do your best Arizona. Wash up, mask up, and maintain physical distancing to help manage the risks of people, space, and time.
In this episode we're talking about what’s happening in terms of good news about vaccines – but also what’s happening with the not-so-good news related to Arizona’s COVID-19 case growth, hospital capacity decreases, and more, as of November 23rd, 2020.
Tuesday Nov 10, 2020
Tuesday Nov 10, 2020
Our advice to you from podcast HQ for this episode is to buckle up. We’ve had an influx of COVID-19 developments and news, much of which broke just before, during, and after our November 9 recording session. Our panel will cover the before and during – including the latest numbers, Pfizer’s big vaccine effectiveness announcement, and much more. We ask that you stick around for a minute or two after the panel ends to get an update on Arizona schools and in-person learning. Suffice it to say that things are moving quickly right now. Luckily, we’ve got three experts around the table to help you navigate and make sense of all of it – backed by more data than ever to help clarify what it is that we do and don’t know. And the data is clear on this: our collective well-being during this pandemic is shaped by three factors that determine exposure to potential viral load: people, space, and time. More people = more risk, less space = more risk, and longer time = more risk. There is a big difference between a well-spaced walk in the park and a small, indoor bar that’s filled with people. Do your best Arizona. Wash up, mask up, and maintain physical distancing to help manage the risks of people, space, and time. Alright, let’s get to it. It’s time to vaccines, task forces, trusting scientists, the numbers, and the somewhat tricky COVID-19 tightrope we’re walking with case counts on the rise as of November 9, 2020.
Show links:
- Banner, TMC comment on surge in cases: https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona-health/2020/11/09/covid-19-cases-arizona-showing-clear-upward-trend-hospitalizations-spiking-and-health-providers-brac/6180857002/
- 60 Minutes' coverage of Operation Warp Speed: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/covid-19-vaccine-distribution-60-minutes-2020-11-08/
- Pfizer vaccine 90% effectiveness announcement: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2020/11/09/pfizers-covid-vaccine-candidate-shows-90-effectiveness-early-test/6011925002/
- COVID-19 and In-person learning news conference coverage: https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona-education/2020/11/09/kathy-hoffman-dr-cara-christ-hold-news-conference-covid-cases-rise/6221827002/
Thursday Nov 05, 2020
Thursday Nov 05, 2020
Today our topic is health coverage - specifically open enrollment for the health insurance marketplace, aka the Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare. If you or anyone you know currently do not have health insurance coverage – during a pandemic no less – now is your time!
Between November 1 and December 15, you can get free help from impartial, certified counselors who will help you get no-cost, low-cost, or the most affordable coverage options available.
We’re going to get into revealing details of who doesn’t have coverage and how accessible no-cost or low-cost coverage might be for many currently uninsured Arizonans. We’re also going to talk about what the Affordable Care Act really gave us – and what we could all lose out on if it were to go away. And we’re going to get into those details because, honestly, it is a reality of U.S. health care that some type of insurance coverage is needed in order to get healthy and stay healthy. And here’s the thing: the Affordable Care Act is an expansive law that benefits all of us in ways we might even be starting to take for granted. Ending it will negatively affect everyone’s well-being, yet somehow there are many misleading messages are out there trying to discourage people about its very existence and functions.
Our guests today have a lot to say about all of this, so let’s get to it. It’s time to talk about access to coverage and care, in particular just how accessible 2021 health insurance coverage is between right now and December 15, 2020.
Wednesday Oct 28, 2020
Wednesday Oct 28, 2020
Our roundtable of experts returns as COVID-19 itself returns to a level of new cases that we haven’t seen since June. Commentators speak of COVID fatigue as a reason that new case counts are up, and many of us can relate. But October is NOT June, And November doesn’t have to be like July. Remember what we DO know: masks work, as does physical distancing, and avoiding higher-risk situations that could become super spreading events. In fact, new data on super spreading is part of today’s roundtable. And it continues to point to this fact: we’ve got to be as COVID-smart as is humanly possible. Stay-at-home as much as you possibly can; wash up; mask up; maintain physical distancing, and keep a heads up for your fellow Arizonans. Our actions today do make a difference. If you’re looking for reinforcement on why such COVID-smart community actions are needed, you’ll find it in this episode. Data from the latest large-scale epidemiological work, new insights into the realities of contact tracing, what ER treatments look like now compared to months ago, where we are headed with vaccines, and whether Arizona is on track to systematically get vaccine distribution right. It’s all right here, in the next 30 or so minutes. So let’s get to it. It’s time to dig into life with COVID-19 as of late October 2020.
Wednesday Oct 21, 2020
Wednesday Oct 21, 2020
Vitalyst welcomes you to our 50th podcast episode. Just when you thought we were leaving you hanging with only Part 1 of our Health Data Challenge conversation, it turns out that we’re back today with Part 2. In this episode, we’ll continue to voice the challenges of using health data to make change, but today we are doing it within the context of an audio tour of Vitalyst’s newly-launching statewide health data dashboard.
If you’re lucky enough to be at a computer for this episode, click the first link in our show notes below and follow along as our guests talk about the dashboard, what it took to get us here and what some of the pages have to say. Alright, let’s dig into part 2 of our Health Data Challenge dialog, including an introduction to Vitalyst’s Statewide Health Data Dashboard.
Links:
Wednesday Oct 14, 2020
Wednesday Oct 14, 2020
We’re back with another COVID-19 roundtable discussion at an awkward spot in our journey so far. We say “awkward” because in Arizona it isn’t quite clear what might happen soon, but there is a sense, based on other states, that another increase in cases could be coming. Depending on which data source you choose, up to 39 states are now experiencing an upward trend. In places like Bismarck North Dakota, hospitals are at capacity. Here in Arizona, there are indications, but not a clear trend as of this discussion’s October 12 recording date. This roundtable starts where most previous editions left off: with vaccines. As Phase 3 trials continue, we share what is known to this point about possible availability, and possible protocols for who gets access to vaccines when. There’s also a highly informative discussion about the pros and cons of Emergency Use Authorization vs. a full 3 phase trial approach. There’s a lot more than that to this episode. Listen in as we talk about vaccines, superspreaders, modeling, emergency use authorizations and more. In short, its time to talk about life with COVID-19 as of October 12, 2020.
Thursday Oct 08, 2020
Thursday Oct 08, 2020
Meet three transformative nonprofit CEOs and get introduced to the Emerging Leaders Network they are building statewide. Prepare to be inspired, challenged, and fired up by this dialog. For newer leaders and smaller nonprofits working hard to help their communities in the midst of a global pandemic and a social change movement, there’s a lot to talk about. And the truth is, many of us still need practice when it comes to talking about what lies at the root of both COVID and current calls to combat race and gender issues.
In other words, it’s time for you to hear about the Emerging Leaders Network that’s rapidly growing in Tucson, and it’s time for all of us to lean into the important insights, questions, and challenges that are offered up through this conversation. Because we need this group’s energy, experience, and expertise now more than ever.
Links:
Tuesday Sep 29, 2020
Tuesday Sep 29, 2020
After a half-year of rapid response to what’s been going on in the previous two weeks, this episode takes time to take stock of the entire past six-eight months and what we’ve learned. From there, we spend time looking forward – based on what we're learning - to formulate a sense of what life might look like in the coming months. And of course, we can’t help but conclude this episode with a look at the vaccines, and some Vegas odds on when we will see those vaccines reaching Arizonans.
As our guests cover, masks are where it’s at. Be COVID Smart: Stay-at-home as much as you possibly can; wash up; mask up; maintain physical distancing, and keep a heads up for your fellow Arizonans. This virus doesn’t care what month it is or what holidays are coming up. If we want continued lower numbers 2-4 weeks from now, our actions today make that difference.
In a COVID Fall, Universities are models for testing, mitigation, and behavior change backed by enforcement, trick or treating is scarier than we’d like, and vaccines could be the subject of Vegas oddsmakers. Maybe. One thing we know about life with COVID is that you can’t be too surprised by new aspects of life with COVID. So let’s get to it. It’s time to talk about what we’ve been through, what we’ve learned, and what life with COVID-19 looks like as of September 29, 2020.