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 heart and kidneys or degrading the effectiveness of certain medications. In this episode of the Wonks at Work podcast, we’re joined by KARK Channel 4 Chief Meteorologist Todd Yakoubian for some special insight into the hot and humid days of summer in Arkansas.

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 this project and what led her to this work.

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 of the Wonks at Work podcast, we’re joined by Dr. Maria Rodriguez-Alcala, director for health and wellness at Northwest Arkansas-based Heartland Forward, to discuss the nonpartisan think tank ’s report, The Economic Case for Investing in Maternal Health.

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 people in the U.S. have a sleep disorder which can lead to the development of other health conditions such as depression and heart disease. In this episode, we delve into the world of sleep and its impact on your health with Dr. Dimitry Fomin, who leads Mercy Clinic Sleep Medicine and Mercy Sleep Center in Northwest Arkansas.

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 hospital-at-home programs work from Katherine Prentice, director of telehealth services for St. Bernards Healthcare in Jonesboro, who heads up the St. Bernards AcuteHealth at Home program.

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 this episode, we learn more about Maternal Life360 HOMEs with Dr. Kalena Jones, the system director of ARHOME programs for Baptist Health.