Arkansas Maternal Health Community Hackathon

645 Martin Luther King Junior Boulevard,Fayetteville AR 72701

20 May, 2023

Description

The Arkansas Maternal Health Community Hackathon is a free, one-day event open to the public that aims to start conversations, build connections and develop community-led solutions to address the maternal health crisis in Arkansas. We invite community members from a wide variety of backgrounds — parents, birth workers, nurses, doctors, midwives, doulas, lactation consultants, health administrators, public health experts, legal experts, journalists, activists, designers and artists — to come together to identify the root causes of the maternal mortality crisis and generate actionable visions towards change. Event participants have the option to start or join teams to address a specific problem or project, join dialogues to share and hear personal stories, engage with local organizations and community members working to support maternal health, or simply arrive as a general participant. No design or healthcare experience is necessary. Participants will have access to resources including design volunteers, materials, supplies and a makerspace on site. Breakfast and lunch will be provided, as well as on-site childcare. (Children under 18 do not need to register.) Scholarships to support travel and lodging expenses are available. Types of Participation Attendees can register as one of the following types of participants: Maternal Health Practitioner or Expert + Team Maternal Health Practitioner or Expert (No Team) Other Professional or Expert Designer Seeking to Join a Team General Participant Participants who register with a team are encouraged to arrive with a goal in mind of what they would like to accomplish during this one-day event. We will pair teams with designers to work together to produce outcomes and artifacts that will help our community continue to address the issue of maternal health in Arkansas. (Example projects: a brochure of your services to be distributed at local hospitals; a social media strategy for your organization or business; a service design map and strategy to understand Black mothers’ experience in the healthcare system; etc.) A variety of activities will be offered throughout the day for all participants, including: Surveys and Storytelling: Participate in a short survey to generate data on maternal health in Arkansas. Share your experience anonymously (or not) related to pregnancy, birth, or maternal health Documentary Screening: Get a first look at the documentary Giving Birth in America: Arkansas presented by Every Mother Counts Advocacy Session: Learn about policies and bills up for debate in Arkansas. Guided letter/email writing to your representatives to address the maternal health crisis in our state. Guided social posting to let your network know about the maternal health crisis in our state. Presented by Every Mother Counts.Prenatal/Postnatal Yoga Session: Open to all levels Resource Room: Browse and share resources and providers related to maternal health in Arkansas Opening Keynote Lisa M. Corrigan, Ph.D. is a Professor of Communication and Director of the Gender Studies Program at the University of Arkansas. She is a prominent scholar in the areas of social movement studies, civil rights movements, and feminist studies. Recently, Dr. Corrigan has edited the collection #MeToo: A Rhetorical Zeitgeist (Routledge, 2021) in addition to her other books, Prison Power: How Prison Influenced the Movement for Black Liberation (University Press of Mississippi, 2016) and Black Feelings: Race and Affect in the Long Sixties (University Press of Mississippi, 2020). She also co-hosts the popular podcast Lean Back: Critical Feminist Conversations. Sponsors This event is led by researchers from the University of Arkansas in the School of Art, the Eleanor Mann School of Nursing, and the Walton College of Business. Support for this event has been provided by the University of Arkansas Gender Studies program, the University of Arkansas Provost’s Office, the University of Arkansas School of Art, and the Walton Family Charitable Foundation.