Policy Forum Pod

This week we discuss how policymakers and individuals can manage uncertainty during the coronavirus pandemic, plus how best to speak to children about the virus and its impacts.The COVID-19 pandemic has created huge amounts of uncertainty for people across the globe, in both their personal and professional lives. But how can governments and experts communicate effectively to reduce people’s anxiety around these kinds of upheavals? What can individuals do to cope with this uncertainty? And how can parents talk to their children about the crisis in an age-appropriate way? In this episode, we talk to Professor Michael Smithson about the psychology of uncertainty in the pandemic, before Nicola Palfrey joins us to discuss how adults can talk about COVID-19 with children.Nicola Palfrey is Operations and Research Manager at The Australian National University Medical School and Director of the Australian Child and Adolescent Trauma, Loss, and Grief Network. She is also a clinical psychologist and a Churchill Fellow.P