A SmartLife Special Event: Managing and Surviving Coronavirus

MIAMI, May 11, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- As our communities begin to reopen, a new reality emerges, and we begin to heal from the collective physical and mental trauma caused by the coronavirus, the need for reliable health information is even more clear and essential. This is the focus of South Florida PBS Health Channel's one-hour long Facebook LIVE Special Event, SMARTLIFE: Managing and Surviving Coronavirus on May 16 at 11:00 AM in partnership with Baptist Health of South Florida (https://www.facebook.com/allhealthtv/posts/1544725925705587).

Special guests include but are not limited to:

• Dr. Scarlet Constant (pediatrician) will speak about how to help children adjust to the drastic changes in their school and life schedules. She will also discuss children's mental health issues and the importance of catching up on vaccines.
• Dr. Kamaljit Kaur (primary care physician) will discuss what doctors have learned about COVID-19 symptoms and who is truly at risk. She will also highlight telemedicine and explain why it's here to stay. Dr. Kaur will also discuss the treatments that are being tested now and safety measures we can all take to stay safe as our communities begin to reopen.
• Amy Exum (psychotherapist) will discuss the mental health consequences related to the unexpected unemployment and forced furloughs that many people are currently experiencing. She'll also talk about the warning signs of anxiety and depression, and how to recover from the trauma caused by this global pandemic and worldwide economic crisis.
• Anna Taylor (elementary school teacher) will talk about the impact COVID-19 has had on children's education and what parents can do over the summer to prepare kids for the new academic year.

"As a new reality emerges with communities reopening or planning to reopen, we all have questions about our health and safety and our family's well-being. South Florida PBS' Health Channel believes it is the right time to do a follow-up to the March 14^th SMARTLIFE FB special in which we addressed the initial questions and concerns regarding coronavirus. We once again want to reach and help as many families as we can and to the end, we have invited medical experts who will be addressing questions about the virus and its aftermath," stated South Florida PBS president and CEO, Dolores Sukhdeo.

SmartLife: Managing and Surviving Coronavirus, was inspired by the very successful SmartLife2020 Facebook Live event in March, where Baptist Health medical experts discussed different aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic; including its impact on mental health, and helping children and families understand how to cope with our new normal. This previous SmartLife2020 Facebook Live event has been viewed approximately 90,000 times on Facebook.

The first step South Florida PBS' Health Channel took to fulfill its mission of providing our communities with reliable health information from the experts, was the implementation of a 24/7 continuous news crawl in February, keeping viewers informed with timely COVID-19 updates. Additionally, the Health Channel has and continues to produce over 300 coronavirus news briefs and evergreen interstitials (videos) in both English and Spanish which have been downloaded by almost 60 public television affiliates around the nation, (27 stations using them consistently) with a reach of 44.3 million households. These Health Channel Coronavirus videos have proven to be popular; and the content being shared on the HC's social media platforms has generated record-breaking metrics:

• Impressions: 12 Million
• Video views: 2.2 Million
• Engagements: 600,000

Below are examples of the Health Channel's most watched interstitials:

Coronavirus Update | Coronavirus and Your Pet
https://youtu.be/y9m0HC7EfTo

Coronavirus Update | Keeping Stress Under Control
https://youtu.be/jtEQhYTO0cU

Included in some of the most comprehensive and reliable COVID-19 coverage available, the Health Channel's website, https://allhealthtv.com/coronavirus-in-real-time/, has a webpage dedicated to the coronavirus, tracking the spread of the disease, as well as offering useful information about its treatment and prevention. This information is available in both English and Spanish.

About South Florida PBS South Florida PBS is Florida's largest public media company, including Public Broadcasting stations WPBT and WXEL-TV. Leading the way in this global society, South Florida PBS serves diverse communities from Key West to the Sebastian Inlet and from the Atlantic Ocean west to Lake Okeechobee. South Florida PBS connects organizations and institutions across the region and is committed to creating and presenting unique arts, education and cultural heritage programming, and serves as a model for telling unique local stories across a variety of digital media platforms. Local productions presented by South Florida PBS include the Health Channel, Kidvision Pre-K, Check Please South Florida and Between the Covers. National productions presented to public television stations by South Florida PBS include James Patterson's Kid Stew, Battleground Everglades, and Changing Seas.

For more information, visit http://www.southfloridapbs.org or follow us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/WPBT2/.

Contact:
Jeneissy Azcuy
Vice President of Marketing & Communications South Florida PBS
jazcuy@SouthFloridaPBS.org;
305-424-4013

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SOURCE South Florida PBS