People around the globe will observe Minority Health Month in April to bring awareness to health disparities and to work towards improving the health of racial and ethnic minority communities.
University of Minnesota Medical School expert Rahel Nardos, MD, MCR speaks about the health disparities affecting minority groups in Minnesota and the work she is doing to level the playing field.
Rahel Nardos, MD, MCR
“For most women, pregnancy and childbirth is a joyous and life enhancing experience. Unfortunately, this is not the case for all birthing people in Minnesota. Black and Native Indian/Alaskan Native Minnesotans have a two-to-three times higher risk of dying from pregnancy-related complications compared to white patients. They also carry a substantial burden of psychological and physical morbidities related to pregnancy and childbirth. This inequity manifests in many other women’s health areas as well. Our team is currently partnering with SoLaHMO, a community participatory action research group at the Community-University Health Care Center (CUHCC). The group is made up of Somali, Latino/a/x, Hmong, Karen, Vietnamese, Native American, Black/African American and LGBTQ/Two Spirit community members and health care professionals in partnerships with academic researchers. We aim to engage young people, community leaders and those seeking women’s health care in immigrant communities in focused group conversations to understand barriers to care. Our focus is to identify community assets, such as youth, who can be empowered to serve as a bridge between their communities and the healthcare system.”
Rahel Nardos, MD, MS, is an associate professor in the Division of Female Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery and the Director of Global Women's Health within the Center of Global Health and Social Responsibility. She hopes to support global and local partnerships that elevate women's health in underserved communities through interdisciplinary and interprofessional collaborations that strengthen health systems through education, research, clinical care and community outreach.
Contact
Rahel Nardos, MD, MCR
Associate professor at the University of Minnesota Medical School
Director of Global Women’s Health at the Center for Global Health and Social Responsibility
Contact: [email protected]
Download a high resolution photo of Dr. Nardos
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The University of Minnesota Medical School is at the forefront of learning and discovery, transforming medical care and educating the next generation of physicians. Our graduates and faculty produce high-impact biomedical research and advance the practice of medicine. We acknowledge that the U of M Medical School, both the Twin Cities campus and Duluth campus, is located on traditional, ancestral and contemporary lands of the Dakota and the Ojibwe, and scores of other Indigenous people, and we affirm our commitment to tribal communities and their sovereignty as we seek to improve and strengthen our relations with tribal nations. For more information about the U of M Medical School, please visit med.umn.edu.
