Rural mortality rates had been improving until recent years when a perfect storm of the opioid epidemic and COVID-19 pandemic converged to reverse these gains. However, federally funded efforts have sought to stem the tide through community, clinical, and policy efforts.
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Dr. Luis Padilla, Associate Administrator for HRSA’s Bureau of Health Workforce and Director of the National Health Service Corps (NHSC), discusses the NHSC’s 50th anniversary and the organization’s many initiatives to bring healthcare professionals to underserved communities.
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Three programs across rural America demonstrate how doulas improve birth outcomes by providing prenatal, labor, and postpartum support. A New Mexico program reaches American Indian, Hispanic, and other populations who lack nearby labor/delivery units; a Minnesota program works with moms experiencing incarceration; and a North Dakota program is training postpartum doulas who will care for families impacted by opioid use disorder and other substance use.
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As more federal dollars are directed toward the opioid crisis, three communities use grant funds for treatment and recovery care coordination in court, prisons, and the homes of new moms.
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Obstetric services were available in 205 fewer rural hospitals in 2014 than in 2004. Realizing the importance of maternity and childbirth services, a CAH in Alaska works to keep its providers’ skills sharp and a rural OB-GYN residency program in Wisconsin is beginning to train a new generation of physicians.
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Dr. Ali Mokdad uncovers reasons behind the United States’ high infant and maternal mortality rates. A Professor of Global Health at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) and Head Faculty Member on U.S. Studies at the University of Washington, Dr. Mokdad shares his perspective on this issue through a rural lens.
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As healthcare reform encourages integration of healthcare to treat the patient as a whole, behavioral health and oral care are being integrated into primary care practices around the country.
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