Missouri Health Talks

Hosted by Rebecca Smith

Missouri Health Talks travels throughout the state gathering conversations between Missourians about issues of access to healthcare.

Latest Episodes

"As senior centers, we're constantly looking at our communities and trying to see what works."

Once a month, the senior center in Osceola offers a toenail clinic for their patrons.
Connecting residents to resources: 'Something that seems small can make all the difference in someone's life.'

Mercy Services United is a newer initiative in Sedalia that provides a walk-in hub for social services and connection for those in need. It’s a partnership between many organizations, including the United Way of Pettis County and the ToRCH program at Bothwell Regional Health Center.
Programs for Sedalia seniors, 'kind of started in the fitness realm, but then it's grown.'

The Heckert Community Center in Sedalia opened in 2022 and offers many services to members, such as a full gym, an indoor walking track, an indoor pool, a myriad of fitness classes and more.
"Families will tell us that donating (breast) milk can help them along their grief journey."

The Pettis County Health Center has just officially become a milk depot – which means they are now a drop off site for those wishing to donate human breast milk to help medically fragile and premature infants.
With oral health in rural Missouri, 'the thought process is – take the care to where they're at.'

The Northeast Missouri Health Council in Kirksville is a federally qualified health center (FQHC), that serves folks throughout northeast Missouri. At an FQHC, patients regardless of income and whether or not they have insurance can access a wide variety of services, including medical and dental care.
"Our goal is to keep people as independent as possible in the communities of their choice."

Rural Advocates for Independent Living, or RAIL as it’s more commonly known, is an organization based in Kirksville that covers 10 counties throughout northeast Missouri. Its goal is to help people with disabilities stay independent and in their communities.
Showing high schoolers ‘there's so many careers other than doctors and nurses.’

Tonia Berry and Bailey Quigley work at the Northeast Missouri Area Health Education Center (NEMO AHEC), which aims to develop the healthcare workforce in rural Missouri by engaging with high schoolers.
Social self-comparison: "Examining how we use social media and the effects on us is really important."

Makenzie Schroeder and Lissa Behm-Morrowitz at the University of Missouri recently released a study about how using social media filters to change one’s appearance can lead to a phenomenon called “social self-comparison.”
"People don't have to show up as the perfect person to receive help or care from their community."

CoMo Mobile Aid is a local grassroots organization that sets up outside the local overnight shelter, Room the Inn [RATI], twice a week – offering a pop-up thrift store, a wound care station and a large, converted van where folks can get all sorts of essentials: from band aids and Tylenol to menstrual pads and shampoo.
"If my family hadn't stepped in and helped me, I might have been here on one of these cots."

Jaquie Melloway and John Trapp are the leadership team that run Room at the Inn, the local overnight shelter in Columbia that serves unhoused people. They spoke about some of the things that have surprised them about the folks they serve.