Episode 49: Health Care Workers and Public Health in Germany and the United States During COVID-19

The Covid-19 pandemic has subjected the German and U.S. healthcare systems to tremendous pressure and posed great challenges to public health policy makers. In both countries, the pandemic has exacted a heavy physical and psychological toll on health care workers, as they have had to adapt to changing pandemic conditions and to cope with staffing shortfalls while faced with the stress from the risks to their own health and well-being. Successive waves of infections in Germany and the United States also saw local and federal governments exploring new policy measures to try to stem the tide of the pandemic and to address weaknesses in their respective healthcare systems. On this episode of The Zeitgeist, AICGS President Jeff Rathke discusses the experiences of healthcare systems and public health in Germany and the United States with Dr. Albert Wu, Director of the Center for Health Services & Outcomes Research and Professor Interim Chair of Health Policy & Management at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health and Dr. Benjamin Ewert, Professor of Health Policies and Health Professions at the Fulda University of Applied Science in Germany. What is the impact of stress and workload on healthcare workers’ physical and emotional wellbeing? Have the federal systems in Germany and the United States shown an ability to adapt their policy approaches? Will the public health and healthcare innovations achieved in the last two years strengthen our systems after the pandemic? Host Jeff Rathke, President, AICGS Guest Benjamin Ewert, Professor of Health Policies and Health Professions, Fulda University of Applied Science Albert W. Wu, Professor and Interim Chair of Health Policy & Management, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health This podcast episode is part of the AICGS project “The Importance of the Transatlantic Partnership in Times of Global Crises” and is generously funded by the the European Recovery Program (ERP) of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK).