PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Now that most COVID-19 pandemic restrictions have been lifted, we’re starting to look forward. Will any of the changes we’ve made in the last two years still exist in five or 10 years?
Sure, some people would like to always have the opportunity to work from home, but we’ve also found some specific things that work better the way we did them during the pandemic.
Dr. Laura A. Siminoff, Dean of Temple University’s College of Public Health and Professor of Social and Behavioral Sciences, pointed to some changes in education as an example.
“Very large lecture classes where you've got hundreds-plus students…a lot of that works better online,” she said.
Dr. Siminoff spoke with KYW Newsradio’s In Depth podcast - listen to that full conversation below.
While virtual learning works well for some college classes, Dr. Siminoff said that young children don’t learn well online. So when we talk about long-term changes, we have to look at how different populations experienced the pandemic across things like age, gender, and career.
“We don't have equal access to resources, the types of jobs we hold, the conditions that we live in,” Dr. Siminoff pointed out. “Different types of communities and populations are going to adapt in different types of changes.”
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She said the elderly, very young children, women, and essential employees are a few of the groups that have taken on extra stress.
One thing we all have in common, she said, is our innate, human ability to adapt.
“It's one of the reasons we're so successful as a species,” said Dr. Siminoff. “We're very adaptable. But it won't happen all at once.”
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If you’re struggling to return to in-person activities, that’s not surprising - it’s not a natural part of your routine anymore. But with time, Dr. Siminoff believes COVID-19 will become something that we all learn to function with.
Listen to Dr. Siminoff’s thoughts on changes in the workforce, mental health, social interaction, and more on KYW Newradio In Depth here:
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