Wonks at Work

Now more than ever, schools are seeking to provide students with a broad scope of wellness, prevention, and treatment so they can thrive inside and outside the classroom. Dozens of schools across Arkansas have adopted a model known as the school-based health center. These are staffed clinics on school grounds that provide medical and mental health care, and in some cases oral health and vision ser...

Arkansas recently joined a growing number of states that support cell phone restrictions in schools, launching a $7 million pilot program to create “phone-free” schools as part of a broader effort to improve student mental health and curb screen addiction. While research on cell phone bans is mixed, some studies show associated improvements in student mental health and academic performance, as wel...

Tobacco use remains the leading preventable cause of death in Arkansas, claiming more lives each year than HIV, illicit drug use, alcohol, motor vehicle injuries, and firearm-related incidents combined. Tobacco use in the state has dropped significantly over the past decade, but Arkansas’s smoking rate still ranks among the highest in the U.S. Plus, the use of e-cigarettes has drastically increase...

Firearms are the leading cause of death for children in the U.S., and the number of gun-related fatalities has continued to climb for the past decade. Following the September school shooting in Winder, Ga., that left two students and two teachers dead, the question of how to stem the tide has risen again. In this episode of the Wonks at Work podcast, we’re joined by Dr. Whit Hall, a neonatologist...

Data is great to have, but to work toward solutions to the challenges we face, it’s essential that we turn that data into understandable and actionable information. ACHI has been working with the Arkansas State Police on a deep dive into vehicular crash data to support strategic planning efforts for traffic safety. In this episode of the Wonks at Work podcast, ACHI Health Policy Director Craig Wil...

Arkansas has the fourth-highest roadway fatality rate of all the states. Fortunately, policymakers have begun to respond. In May, the Little Rock City Board voted to adopt the Central Arkansas Regional Safety Action Plan, part of which is to seek federal funding to address safety concerns by improving lighting, signals, and other roadway infrastructure. Last week, the city announced that it will r...

Arkansas’s rural communities face many challenges. Communities are shrinking due to out-migration, rural hospitals are under financial strain, and the state’s rural residents are, on average, older, poorer, and less healthy than their urban counterparts. Primary care physicians are also far less plentiful in rural areas, making the role of the family doctor even more important. In this episode of...

There is growing concern about the role social media plays in the mental health and development of young people. Arkansas’s governor, multiple other states, Congress, and the courts are all delving into this issue. The U.S. surgeon general has even called for warning labels on social media platforms. As those efforts move forward, it falls upon parents, families, educators, and others in the commu...

There are numerous risks along the birthing journey that contribute to poor outcomes for Arkansas moms and babies. One effective practice for promoting healthy outcomes for babies is breastfeeding, which supports their immune systems and cognitive development. Unfortunately, breastfeeding is not an option for some mothers. To learn more about a new alternative available in Arkansas to those mother...

Hundreds of cities in nearly every U.S. state are on track for one of their 10 warmest summers on record. Besides posing immediate risk for illnesses such as heat exhaustion and heat stroke, extreme heat can create cumulative stress on the human body over prolonged periods. Heat can also impact us in less obvious ways, such as worsening health risks from chronic conditions due to stress on the hea...

Maintaining one's health is challenging for those whose basic needs such as housing and food are unmet. A new effort in Central Arkansas, Providence Park, seeks to address the needs of people who are chronically unhoused, offering permanent housing and wrap-around services including healthcare for those in need. Host Craig Wilson talks to Providence Park CEO Errin Stanger about the inspiration for...

Maternal health has finally risen to the forefront of policy conversations in Arkansas, driven by the startling statistic that our state has the highest maternal mortality rate in the nation. Improving maternal health outcomes should be reason enough for policymakers to invest in positive change, but sometimes it helps to outline the economic benefits of such investments as well. In this episode o...

When we’re well rested, we can start our day in a good mood and are better able to respond to whatever the day brings. There are, however, many different things that can keep us from getting a good night’s sleep. For some, minimizing common disruptions to sleep is not enough, as they deal with sleep disorders that cause problems with the quality, timing, and amount of sleep. About 50 million peopl...

One impact of the pandemic on our healthcare system is that it inspired some necessary creativity and interest in new ways of providing care. One alternative care model that saw increased interest was the hospital-at-home model. About 150 hospitals have adopted this model, in which hospitals provide intensive care at home for patients with certain conditions. In this episode, we learn about how ho...

There are several programs underway in Arkansas aimed at improving maternal and infant health outcomes. One such program is Life360 HOMEs, part of Arkansas Health and Opportunity for Me, or ARHOME, the latest iteration of Medicaid expansion in the state. Life360 HOMEs are designed to provide additional, intensive supports to a number of target populations, including at-risk soon-to-be mothers. In...

January 2024 marks 10 years since several key provisions of the Affordable Care Act took effect in Arkansas. In this episode, host Craig Wilson sits down with ACHI President and CEO Dr. Joe Thompson to discuss their perspectives on this anniversary. Dr. Thompson focuses on the impact of the state’s innovative approach to Medicaid expansion, while our host looks back at what it was like to purchase...

Moms are more likely to die during pregnancy or shortly after giving birth in Arkansas than in any other state. This is a shocking statistic, especially because maternal mortality is largely preventable. In this episode, host Craig Wilson asks University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Chair of Obstetrics and Gynecology Dr. Nirvana Manning what can be done to make having a baby in Arkansas less r...

Antibiotic resistance and the inappropriate use of antibiotics pose growing threats to public health, both here in Arkansas and around the globe. For U.S. Antibiotic Awareness Week, we’re joined by one of our public health partners to learn more about these issues and what healthcare professionals and the public should know about antibiotic resistance. Jordan Murdoch, a licensed pharmacist and a p...

Among the challenges currently facing rural hospitals is cybersecurity, which was one of the main concerns expressed in a recent report commissioned by the Arkansas General Assembly. According to Becker’s Hospital Review, nationwide there have been 327 data breaches reported to the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Civil Rights as of August, affecting more than 40 million patients...

Only 57% of Arkansas adults reported having a dental visit in 2020. Like other health professions, there is an enormous need to educate, train, and keep dentists here in Arkansas to address the state’s significant oral health needs. That's why the announcement of a planned dental school at the newly established Lyon College Institute of Health Sciences in Little Rock has been such welcome news. In...

More than 17,000 Arkansans are diagnosed with cancer each year. As of late September, the most advanced cancer radiation treatment in the world is now available in our state following the opening of The Proton Center of Arkansas. The center in Little Rock is the result of a collaboration between the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Arkansas Children’s Hospital, and Baptist Health and p...

Arkansas hospitals continue to face financial challenges coming out of the pandemic as inflation outpaces revenue. Earlier this year, the state established a new designation, the rural emergency hospital, following a move by Congress in late 2020. The new designation could make financial sense for some hospitals with lower inpatient volume, but there are tradeoffs. At least one Arkansas hospital h...

New digital technologies can boost our individual health and well-being and make the healthcare system more accessible, personalized, efficient, and cost-effective. This has created fertile ground for health technology startups exploring innovative ways to address patient and consumer needs. Recently, we've seen a flurry of startup activity in the mental health and substance use treatment and reco...

Cultivating interest in healthcare careers among students earlier in the educational process is key to ensuring a sufficient workforce pipeline to respond to the needs of Arkansans. That has been the focus of Robin Howell, senior program manager for regional campuses at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, for more than 35 years. In this episode, host Craig Wilson talks with Howell abo...

Findings from research on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on minority communities have largely been uniform in showing overwhelmingly disparate health outcomes. In this episode of Wonks at Work, host Craig Wilson discusses findings from ACHI's analysis of Arkansas-specific data on COVID-19 health disparities with ACHI president and CEO Dr. Joe Thompson. They also discuss ACHI's findings on the...