Advancing Health A Podcast from the AHA

According to the World Health Organization, behavioral health conditions among older populations are often underrecognized, undertreated and stigmatized. Broaddus Hospital, a critical access hospital and part of Davis Health System, tackled this problem head-on with the development of Senior Life Solutions, an intensive outpatient group therapy program designed for patients 65 and older. In this conversation, Broaddus Hospital's Dana Gould, CEO, and Donetta McVicker, program director of Senior Life Solutions, share how they are working to identify and fill the unique mental health needs of their older community members. 

Across the country, hospitals and health systems are moving to fully integrate behavioral health treatment as a core part of patient-centered care. In this conversation, Joanne M. Conroy, M.D., CEO and president of Dartmouth Health and 2024 AHA board chair, talks with Jeremy Musher, M.D., chief behavioral medical officer at Lifepoint Health, about common obstacles in the behavioral health field, including access and reimbursement, as well as ways to approach mental health stigmas.

In 2020, Congress acted to prevent any more loss of essential health care services in rural areas by creating a new designation: Rural Emergency Hospitals (REHs). REHs became official on January 1, 2023. Since then, a growing number of rural care providers have voluntarily converted to this category. In this discussion, two rural health care leaders assess how the conversion to Rural Emergency Hospital is proceeding, and how to build trust and buy-in from patients and communities. 

Community health workers (CHWs) serve as a bridge between social and clinical care, providing essential outreach and advocacy to populations with unmet social needs. Understanding the importance of CHWs, Montefiore Medical Center created the Community Health Worker Institute to standardize CHW training and ensure that the patients they serve receive the best possible care. In this conversation, Renee Whiskey-LaLanne, director of community partnerships at Montefiore's Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and Kevin Fiori, M.D., vice chair of community health and engagement at Montefiore Health System, discuss how the lofty dream of an institute turned into reality, as well as the strategies for addressing social determinants of health.

In addition to caring for patients, many health care providers have an equally important role at home — being parents to young children. Given the pressures of parenting, what are hospitals and health systems doing to retain new parents, especially moms, in the health care workforce? In the final episode of this award-winning series, learn how health care organizations are supporting new moms to enable them to thrive at work, and most importantly, at home. For more resources on maternal health or to listen to previous Beyond Birth episodes, visit www.aha.org/betterhhealthformothersandbabies.

The constant strain of workforce and financial issues are proving difficult to solve for rural health care providers. In this conversation, Barbara Sowada, president of the Board of Trustees at Memorial Hospital, discusses the role board members can play in helping their hospitals and health systems navigate today’s pressing problems, and how the AHA’s resources and educational materials can provide valuable assistance.