Latest news with #HeadsUp
IOL News
12-05-2025
- Business
- IOL News
More than half of South African employees face a mental health crisis
new study by the South African Depression and Anxiety Group (Sadag has painted a grim picture Image: FreePik A study by the South African Depression and Anxiety Group (Sadag) has painted a grim picture, revealing that more than half of South African employees are struggling with mental health issues like depression, anxiety, and burnout due to work stress and insecurity. Based on responses from over 960 participants, the survey found that six in ten workers wished they could afford to quit their jobs, and nearly half reported feeling unhappy at the start of the workweek. "Work emerged as a consistent stressor for many survey respondents, regardless of their employment sector, which included education, health, NPOS, finance, government, retail and media", the study noted. The survey also found that 52% of respondents have been diagnosed with a mental health condition, with 32% experiencing depression, 25% clinical stress, 18% anxiety, and 13% burnout. Nearly 38% of participants reported fearing job loss, while almost one in five said they had been forced to take on the responsibilities of former colleagues, often without additional support as employers opted not to replace staff who had resigned. SADAG founder Zane Wilson emphasised the urgent need for companies to prioritise mental health in the workplace, calling for proactive efforts to create healthier work environments. 'From the survey, we learn that more needs to be done at companies regarding Mental Health. The integration of innovative programmes to ensure that employees are working in a mentally healthy environment, and more Mental Health education will assist employers with an atmosphere of a more productive workforce," she said. Following Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana's recent announcement that the government would scrap the proposed Value Added Tax (VAT) increase last month, Andrew Cook, founder of the employee engagement platform HeadsUp, warned that South African businesses are facing a more persistent and costly issue. "Companies are still quietly haemorrhaging far more through a different kind of tax–one that's not debated in Parliament, doesn't make front-page news, but continues to drain productivity and profitability every day: burnout and disengagement," he said. 'Businesses were rightly concerned about the VAT increase, but many are already bleeding far more than that through disengaged employees. Burnout isn't just a wellness issue anymore – it's a financial one,' Cook said. IOL Business Get your news on the go, click here to join the IOL News WhatsApp channel.
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Trump budget plan would cut funding for brain injury research
Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Generate Key Takeaways If the Trump administration's 2026 fiscal budget request is approved by Congress, it would eliminate the Centers for Disease Control department in charge of traumatic brain injury research and education, including the department's $8.25 million in federal funding. On April 1, the five employees responsible for administering the U.S. government's primary TBI program were placed on paid administrative leave by the CDC. Dr. Owen Perlman, a board member of the Brain Injury Association of America's board of directors, said the budget cuts would 'roll back decades of progress' on TBI research and education. 'For many people with concussions or certainly moderate or severe brain injuries, there's no endpoint,' Perlman said. 'It's a lifetime problem, and there needs to be lifetime funding for it.' Heads Up, which administers concussion-prevention programs for youth and high-school coaches in 45 states, would be disbanded if the budget proposal is approved. The CDC employees who were put on leave managed the program, whose website says more than 10 million people have taken part in its training programs online. 'We're really worried about the hundreds of thousands of coaches who have to take this training,' a CDC official told ESPN. 'This is really built in, and we've lost the whole team (behind the program).' As part of the Trump administration's budget, the National Institutes of Health, which focuses on medical issues including stroke and migraines, would maintain an institute for brain research. It's unknown if any TBI programs would be included.
Time of India
06-05-2025
- Health
- Time of India
NFL stays silent as White House pushes controversial cuts to brain injury research and education programs
The White House plans to cut TBI research funding, while the NFL declines to comment, raising concerns among health advocates. (Credit: Getty Images) Proposed White House budget cuts to TBI research spark concern, but NFL offers no official stance NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell Joins Trump At White House To Announce 2027 Draft In Washington, D.C. The Trump administration's proposed 2026 federal budget has ignited concern and controversy across the medical and sports communities by recommending the elimination of crucial funding for traumatic brain injury (TBI) research and public education. While the final decision rests with Congress, the proposal marks a potentially significant shift in federal priorities — one that could impact the safety of youth athletes and stifle advancements in understanding concussion-related the center of the debate is a proposed $3.59 billion cut to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), including the full removal of $8.25 million specifically allocated for TBI research and outreach. The CDC's dedicated TBI team — already placed on paid administrative leave as of April 1 — had been responsible for initiatives such as Heads Up, a nationwide program promoting concussion awareness among youth sports coaches, athletic trainers, and school officials. This initiative has reached 45 states and has played a pivotal role in educating communities about the long-term dangers of head injuries.'The program's disappearance would send shockwaves through youth sports,' noted a CDC official, speaking anonymously due to the sensitivity of the situation. Meanwhile, a follow-up to the CDC's 2018 survey — which found 12% of adults had experienced a head injury in the previous year — was already in progress before the staffers were sidelined. The survey had been crucial for understanding national TBI prevalence and guiding prevention the abrupt shift, the White House has remained unresponsive to requests for comment. It's unclear whether other federal agencies, like the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which may undergo a renaming of its brain research institute, would assume responsibility for the shelved TBI programs. But for now, hospitals, universities, and advocacy groups are bracing for potential research funding would expect the NFL — a league under constant scrutiny for player safety and concussion management — to voice strong opposition. However, when Commissioner Roger Goodell visited the White House the same day the ESPN report broke, the NFL declined to silence speaks volumes.'It will be far better — and, in the grand scheme of things, cheaper — for the NFL to fund TBI research and education efforts on its own,' a source suggested, highlighting the league's strategic dance around political minefields. The NFL's approach is one of calculated diplomacy — a choice to 'avoid the iceberg,' as critics describe it — keeping peace with the administration while quietly pursuing its own safety ability to navigate this high-stakes political environment, even while standing next to a president who once labeled him a 'dope,' signals the league's desire to maintain influence without confrontation. The rewards are evident: an NFL Draft hosted in Washington, future prospects for a D.C. stadium, and four years of relative calm for the league's broader for advocates of brain health, youth safety, and medical research, the stakes couldn't be higher — and the silence from powerful institutions may speak louder than any protest ever Read: Why Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce were absent from the 2025 Met Gala: The real story behind their no-show
Daily Mail
06-05-2025
- Health
- Daily Mail
Donald Trump's budget cuts could impact NFL by eliminating concussion programs for youth, high-school football
Donald Trump 's 2026 fiscal budget aims to eliminate the Centers for Disease Control department in charge of traumatic brain injury (TBI) research and education along with $8.3 million in federal funding. There are specific fears that Heads Up, which administers concussion-prevention programs for youth and high-school coaches in 45 states, would be disbanded if the budget proposal is approved. ' Those fears are compounded by an April 1 CDC move, placing five employees who managed the program on paid administrative leave. According to its website, more than 10 million people have taken part in these online training programs. 'We're really worried about the hundreds of thousands of coaches who have to take this training,' a CDC official told ESPN. 'This is really built in, and we've lost the whole team [behind the program].' Trump's proposed budget would slash $3.59 billion from the CDC but maintains the National Institutes of Health's institute for brain research. However, it's unknown if any TBI programs would be included as the NIH's brain research primarily focuses on medical issues, likes stroke and migraines. On their surface, Trump's proposed cuts have nothing to do with the NFL, which pledged $100 million for TBI research in 2016 and has since spent tens of millions in this field. But for a sport struggling to maintain participation rates at the youth level, the cuts could prove catastrophic. A 2024 survey by Project Play, an award-winning initiative from the Aspen Institute, found that participation in tackle football decreased 5 percent from 2019 through 2023. And since 2013, participation rates in tackle football among boys between the ages of 6 and 12 dropped from just 3.5 percent to a mere 2.7 percent in 2023. Although participation across all youth sports is down, many experts point to safety issues to explain gridiron football's particular decline. In 2023 alone, three players died of traumatic head injuries, while 10 more died of other causes, including heat stroke, according to the National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injury Research at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. And this wasn't an anomaly. 'So I would not be particularly alarmed about two deaths in a week,' Robert Cantu, medical director of the organization, told The Associated Press ion 2024. 'But I would be very alarmed if we had two deaths per week for four or five weeks in a row. Because we've never had that before.' Many experts and football players including the Trump-supporting Brett Favre have argued in favor of banning tackle football for youth athletes. 'The body, the brain, the skull is not developed in your teens and single digits,' Favre told in 2018. 'I cringe. I see these little kids get tackled and the helmet is bigger than everything else on the kid combined. They look like they're going to break in half.' 'I suggest age 12 would be a good place to start the conversation,' Dr. Chris Nowinski, the Concussion Legacy Foundation's CEO and a former WWE wrestler, told the AP. 'But any minimum age requirement that takes into consideration brain health for children would be welcome.' Christy Collins, president of the Indianapolis-based Datalys Center for Sports Injury Research and Prevention, credited better education and awareness for an increase in reported concussions between 2005 and 2018. 'Athletes [and their parents] may have been more likely to recognize symptoms of concussion and report those symptoms to medical professionals,' Collins said told the AP. Now, with Trump's proposed budget cuts, that education could become a thing of the past. According to Brain Injury Association of America's board member Dr. Owen Perlman, these cuts would 'roll back decades of progress' on TBI research and education. 'For many people with concussions or certainly moderate or severe brain injuries, there's no endpoint,' Perlman told ESPN. 'It's a lifetime problem, and there needs to be lifetime funding for it.'
