by Mike Critelli, 

Recently, I was honored to meet an exceptionally inspirational person, Jennifer Dickenson. Jennifer is part of a very select group, individuals who have defied the odds and survived a stage 4 metastatic cancer. In 2011, she was diagnosed with glioblastoma, a brain cancer that few people survive for one year and almost none survive five years. She wrote a book that is both inspirational and broadly insightful about what she believes accounts for her success.

She refused to accept the medical consensus that she would die and should “put her affairs in order.” Her logic was simple: if even a few people survive a stage 4 cancer, she wanted to try as much as possible what might work to give her a chance to be an outlier as a long-term survivor. We invited her to join the MakeUsWell Network and give all of you the opportunity to get to know her better. You may be inspired to buy her book, "the Case For Hope," available on Amazon.com.

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by Mike Critelli

MakeUsWell Network’s founders feared that the single-minded focus on virus containment would cause all other necessary health improvement initiatives to be delayed or abandoned.

Americans have more healthcare, wellness programs, and medications available than ever, and a reasonably good health improvement blueprint on how to improve health. For many life-threatening conditions like cancer, we have the world’s best care. 

But our results are terrible. Our life expectancy has dropped back to 1996 levels. Why?

Americans always underutilize preventive care, fail to manage chronic diseases, and delay treatment for more acute conditions. The pandemic made overall health worse.

Self-insured employers spend significant money for healthcare and wellness programs, but do not realize their intended benefits. Timely usage of available programs is disappointing. 

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by Mike Critelli

We created the MakeUsWell Network three years ago because we are deeply committed to critical thinking. We want to follow the facts wherever they may lead us.

One tragic consequence of the pandemic has been the abandonment of scientific principles by authority figures. We cannot let inconvenient or negative consequences from following scientific research divert us from getting the facts.

Three years ago, when President Trump called Covid-19 the "China virus," he was widely criticized for the xenophobic implications of the label. His careless and inflammatory language was especially concerning coming from the President of the United States.

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by Mike Critelli

The changes in daily work routines that Covid directives abruptly introduced into employer-employee relationships were not planned in advance and were not done with consideration of whether they would contribute to emotional, career, social, or spiritual well-being. They were done for the sole purpose of virus containment.

Others can debate their effectiveness, but we are indisputably dealing with the wreckage they created in so many employment environments. 

The pandemic moreover uncovered and amplified structural and emerging workplace issues, giving employers and employees the opportunity now to reflect on what needs to change.

Reflections and recommendations, offered here, are informed by our own software-driven augmented analytics. 

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by Mike Critelli

Over the past several weeks, when sharing what I’ve learned about the expanding and compelling body of research on the harmful effects of social media, I encountered bewilderment, denial, and highly confident—but misguided—responses from many well-educated people. 

We are in the midst of multiple societal crises that manifest themselves in an explosive growth of mental illness, substance abuse, alienation from work, political and cultural division, and increased violence. But most of us are unable to step back and diagnose the potential root causes of these crises.

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