Empowered Patient Podcast

Clark Lagemann is the CEO of Avidon Health which is helping organizations support employees as they recover from the disruption of COVID and adjust to the reconfiguration of the workplace. While many people are leaving their jobs for more income, Avidon is finding that employees are also seeking resources to address substance abuse, stress, and pain. Clark explains, "The kinds of substances really expanded so significantly prior to COVID then post-COVID. Before COVID, we could talk about one in 10 adults who reported anxiety and depressive disorder. Since COVID and in 2020, that shot up to four in 10, so nearly 40% of American workers suffer from mental health issues." "So things that they're going to rely on to help them get through this, alcohol, a substance, pills. Opioids are very common, then you can go into more illicit drugs. So, the most common things that we see in the workplace that we're doing for large organizations are alcohol addiction and typically some sort of prescribed medications." "Substan