American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) populations experience profound health disparities in part due to significant social and economic barriers. Having solid data helps inform policies that can improve the systems that serve these populations and mitigate stigmas impacting the health of AI/AN mothers and infants. Centering community voices can produce more effective and equitable healthcare, reducing the disparities impacting AI/AN communities.

In this episode, three experts—Ed Ehlinger (alumni-MN), a previous past president of ASTHO; Janelle Palacios, a nurse midwife and researcher; and Katelyn Strasser, administrator of the Office of Child and Family Services with the South Dakota Department of Health—discuss the Federal Advisory Committee on Infant and Maternal Mortality’s most recent report on AI/AN health outcomes and the data-focused recommendations for states and territories.

Guests:

·       Edward P. Ehlinger, MD, MSP: former Minnesota Health Commissioner and past president of ASTHO

·       Janelle Palacios, PhD: Salish & Kootenai, originally from the Flathead Indian Reservation in Montana; Nurse Midwife, Researcher, and Storyteller

·       Katelyn Strasser, MPH: Administrator of the Office of Child and Family Services, South Dakota Department of Health

Resources:

·       Making Amends: Recommended Strategies and Actions to Improve the Health and Safety of American Indian and Alaska Native Mothers and Infants

·       Strengthening Risk-Appropriate Care in American Indian and Alaska Native Communities

ASTHO thanks the CDC for its support of this episode of Public Health Review.