Maternal American-Indian Rural Community Health (MARCH)

Maternal American Indian Rural Community Health Research Center of Excellence | M.A.R.C.H. PROJECT SUMMARY The purpose of the Maternal American Indian Rural Community Health Research Center of Excellence (M.A.R.C.H.) is to provide a platform for researchers, tribal nations, rural communities and key stakeholders to engage in bidirectional communications on maternal health, in particular drivers of mortality and severe morbidity. All center components revolve around two populations with stark health disparities in our region – American Indian and rural residents. Novel mechanisms for improving access to care and creating a better understanding of barriers to and facilitators of accessing care feed into the overarching theme of the center and the projects proposed. The key elements of M.A.R.C.H. include 1) multi-layered and novel projects that have emerged from long-standing community relationships with the goal of addressing preventable maternal mortality, decreasing severe maternal morbidity, and promoting maternal health equity; 2) a community engagement core that will serve as a central hub to connect M.A.R.C.H. activities with the vast network of partners; and 3) a training core which will support project-specific training needs, as well as an overall structure of training focused on cultural competency and health research literacy.