Lessons from a health legend
By Jeff Arnold, CEO and Chairman
Yesterday I had the opportunity to meet an exceptional public servant and steward of healthcare: former head of the CDC and 16th Surgeon General of the United States, Dr. David Satcher. He came to our Atlanta office to be interviewed for Sharecare Radio, hosted by Sharecare’s Dr. Darria Long Gillespie; and the two of them were kind enough to let our employees “eavesdrop.”
Given Dr. Satcher’s tenure as Surgeon General included the 9/11 terror attacks – a time sadly reminiscent of this weekend’s tragic events – what he said had quite an impact. While you can listen to the full interview today at 1 p.m. on Sharecare Radio, I wanted to share a few points Dr. Satcher made that stayed with me:
- First, he talked about the importance of cultivating partnerships and collaborative communication during times of peace, stressing that doing so will serve you greatly during times of conflict.
- One of his other major themes – and an area to which he’s focused much of his life’s work – is how the stigma surrounding mental illness in our country negatively impacts nearly every aspect of public health and safety in our society: from suicide to gun violence and the decrease in lifespan of US citizens versus those in other developed countries.
- Finally, Dr. Satcher’s philosophy on stress resonated with me, particularly given the work we do at Sharecare to help people become more self-aware of their mindset and relationships. He told us, “If you don’t manage your stress, it will manage you.”
Simply put, Dr. Satcher’s interview on Sharecare Radio is one you won’t want to miss
