Dr. Amy Acton, Ohio’s former health director, says that public health is a national security issue. At her latest job as the director of Kind Columbus, she’s been thinking about how kindness can help build the resilience and preparedness that will be necessary to mentally manage the coming year, in phases.
Together with Gov. Mike DeWine, the pair launched an early shutdown and encouraged safety measures at the start of the pandemic. And while many were comforted by their daily updates, others insulted and threatened her, eventually leading her to resign.
Wellness, she explains, involves more than the mere absence of disease. Public health calls upon societal protections, many of which are beyond individuals’ control: food safety, immunization, the eradication of poisonous lead.
Acton hates it when kindness is mistaken for weakness, but, as she says, “This isn’t just a ‘be nice’ message. This is ‘the world’s on fire and we have to fight now.’”
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