Park Bench: From Roswell Park

Collectively, we've all had a quiet a year, but as more and more people become eligible for a COVID-19 vaccination, there is some hope on the horizon. And while there's still a long time to go before this pandemic is truly over, a lot of people have even made plans to travel soon, but can that be done safely? On today's show, we have Dr. Kathrine Mullin, Roswell Park's Director of Infection Control and Prevention, to provide some guidance on assessing risk for traveling with our families, and why after a year into a pandemic, a change of scenery could be considered essential for some.

We’re now three months into the year and it’s likely our well-intentioned New Year’s Resolutions are well in the rearview mirror. This includes the yearly goal of exercising more and getting in shape. But this year, like last year, there’s the additional obstacle of COVID-19, closing or restricting gyms and their ability to operate normally, and that’s on top of the stress of having to spend more time at home and isolating. “When you tell people they have to quarantine and self-isolate, that’s creates a stress in and of itself,” says Andy Ray, PT, PhD, a physical therapist who works with lung cancer patients on pre-operative exercise interventions to help reduce post-operative complications. “If you add more stress on top of that, of losing a job, of course that’s going to add more stress. Physical activity might not be the top priority in your life. Self-isolation creates a stressful situation which inevitably ends up in a more sedentary lifestyle.” That leads to a less healthy cycle of inactivity, which can make a person feel even more fatigued and sluggish, he says. “For people who work out regularly, it takes a lot of work to build up that endurance and strength,” Dr. Ray says. “You can lose that endurance and strength so quickly. For example, in a 55-year-old man who becomes bedridden or sedentary for four weeks, they can lose up to 20% of what they gain through a workout. That can happen within weeks. That creates another cycle of, I’m fatigued, I don’t want to do anything. It’s easier to lay around and do nothing than to get up and move around.” Dr. Ray offers some advice on how to get the heart pumping with a moderate level of exercise to break out of the cycle of sluggishness and get on the road to better health.

Some of the software systems that we are using to track time, manage benefits and order supplies are more than 20 years old – older than Facebook, Google and the iPhone. Some processes still require paper forms, but all of that will change when Workday goes live in a few months. Tom Furlani, PhD, Chief Information Officer, and Danielle Marzo, Human Resources Associate, discuss the ways that Workday will transform our workplace, streamlining tasks and creating a user-friendly experience for employees.

On today's show, we'll be talking about the group that loves to talk, the Roswell Park Toastmasters club. Patricia Bax and Tony Astran, will tell us more about the organization, and how having confidence in your communication skills is useful, regardless of your job responsibilities.

So, the first half of 2020 has been challenging to say the least. Everyone has had to make some adjustments to their lives to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic. Many of Roswell Park's non-essential staff are returning to campus for work, and while it's nice getting back into a routine, the return will hardly be business as usual. On today's show, we spoke with Dr. Jennifer Hydeman, an Assistant Professor of Oncology and psychologist at Roswell Park, who offers some tips on how we can hit the ground running when going back to work.