Stress and depression within a pandemic can cause domestic violence and child abuse to increase. Unfortunately, with families quarantined at home, these incidents can be hidden from view. One way that government can respond to these added stress issues is to invest in predictive analytics.

As part of HMC’s ongoing research effort to better understand the longterm effects of COVID-19 and develop solutions for civic spaces, we spoke with various representatives from different public agencies including police, fire, sheriff, city and country administrators, and consultants from public safety and engineering companies to gain insight and understanding of COVID-19’s impact on future facility operation and design.

HMC is committed to sharing our findings with the industry in a series of white papers that focus on five main areas of Technology, Adaptability and Flexibility, Regulatory/Budgetary/Institutional Impacts, Space Needs/Reduction and Restructuring, and Impact to Wellness/Mental Health. In this paper, we cover our findings on the impacts to wellness and mental health with respect to civic spaces.