Interviews from NRHA’s Policy Summit

03/23/20 • 30 min

Michelle interview three key participants at the National Rural Health Association’s Annual Policy Summit in February in Washington, D.C.: Maggie Elehwany, NRHA’s Vice President for Government Affairs and Policy; Michael Topchik, National Leader for the Chartis Center for Rural Health; and Lisa Davis, Director at the Pennsylvania Office of Rural Health.

Previous Episode

Rural Suicides with Carrie Henning-Smith

Michelle chats with Carrie Henning-Smith, Deputy Director of the University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center and an Assistant Professor in the Division of Health Policy and Management, University of Minnesota School of Public Health. Henning-Smith has led multiple research projects at the Rural Health Research Center, on a wide range of topics including the social determinants of health, access to and quality of care, aging and long-term care, and mental health and suicide prevention. She was a 2017 Rural Health Fellow with the National Rural Health Association and serves as a current editorial board chair for the Journal of Rural Health. The riveting conversation on rural suicide touches on factors that might be contributing to high rates of suicide among rural residents; what can be done to prevent suicide in rural areas; and the resources available to deal with this issue. This episode is sponsored by Berea College, whose 2020 Rural College Access and Success Summit is scheduled for April 26-28 in Arizona. For more information visit www.berea.edu/pfe.

Next Episode

Rural Education Today with Allen Pratt

Michelle chats with Dr. Allen Pratt, executive director of the National Rural Education Association, about how rural schools are responding to the pandemic on a variety of fronts, including the establishment of food programs for students in rural areas through delivery and pickup locations where contact is limited.as much as possible. As far as remote learning is concerned, both NREA and school districts have established e-learning programs, utilizing Zoom and other technology, and have coordinated delivery of educational packets to students. Regarding legislation to help students, Dr. Pratt notes the CARES Act include $13.9 billion for released to states and onto schools. That’s not really enough to support students in areas without broadband or cell connections, according to Dr. Pratt. The biggest gap involves this connectivity issue, where everyone should have access to Internet service. Hopefully we will use time to establish equitable opportunity in this area, both Michelle and Dr. Pratt agree. This episode is sponsored by Partners in Education at Berea College. To learn more, visit berea.edu/pfe or email J. Morgan at [email protected], and by the National Rural Education Association, www.nrea.org.