Dr. Ronald R. O'Donnell, Clinical Professor at Arizona State University, spoke about the rise of non-communicable diseases and their impact on workplace productivity and healthcare costs post-Covid. He highlighted the potential of Ayurveda and yoga from India to address these challenges and achieve holistic intervention. During his session online, he spoke on the topic ‘Business Case – Social Workers in Integrated Healthcare: Return on Investment (RO) Strategies.’ He highlighted workplace absenteeism and decreased productivity of the businesses. He identified the increase in healthcare, quality gap in healthcare services, excessive dependence on medication, wrong medication, and side-effects of the medicines which are aggravating the condition. Dr. O’Donnell emphasized that sciences like Ayurveda and Yoga from India can play a major role in achieving the goal of holistic intervention.
Dr. Mohamoud Yusuf Muse's discussion underlined the significance of the Indo-SomaliLand bilateral relationship, highlighting the immense potential for trade, employment, and tourism. He stated that India's imperativeness to further strengthen its engagement with Somali Land would unlock the untapped potential of this partnership engaging Indian teachers, students, and NGOs which are tapping this potential.
Dr. Terefe Zeleke discussed on the topic, ‘The Influence of Organisational Culture-Employees Commitment in Civil Services Organisations- The Cases of selected cities in Ethiopia. He emphasised that the success of any organisation depends on its committed employees which can be traced back to the organisational culture. He mentioned that the organisations expect their employees to be well educated and experienced, but a study in 2016 brought to light that most of the employees in Ethiopia were not satisfied with their jobs. Dr. Zeleke conducted research in this area with the use of modern technology and techniques and found out that the level of employee commitment and job satisfaction was moderate. He made the presentation on the impact of organizational culture on employee commitment in Ethiopia and revealed that despite the expectations of educated and experienced employees, job satisfaction was a clear area of lacking. His research used modern technology and techniques which deduced moderate levels of employee commitment.
Dr. Pradipta Kadambari discussed the link between social workers and society, emphasizing the need for social workers to engage in social entrepreneurship and work with a multidisciplinary approach. She urged them to bring ethics and sustainability to businesses and adopt modern technology to achieve their goals. She urged the social workers to go beyond the arena of NGOs and enter into social entrepreneurship for more impactful roles.
Ms. Maria Morfidou explained in detail how Greece has gone through economic and ecological crises over the past few years. She mentioned that the social condition was further aggravated by the COVID pandemic and prolonged lockdowns which worsened the situation by manifolds, particularly for those with mental illnesses. In her address she highlighted that during this period of uncertainty, modern technology came to the rescue of the citizens. In Greece, a public helpline was set up where people could call on specific telephone numbers for going out for groceries, medical aid, and meeting people for work and to help others. This helped them to cope with the long and strict lockdowns.
