The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA

Abstract #64905

Yessica M. Diaz, MSW, MPH¹, Sobeira Guillen, MSW², Soraya Martinez, MSW², and Burton L. Edelstein, DDS, MPH¹. (1) School of Dental and Oral Surgery-Division of Community Health, Columbia University, 154 Haven, 1st Floor, New York, NY 10032, 212-304-6298, ymd2001@columbia.edu, (2) Alianza Dominicana, Inc., 2410 Amsterdam Avenue 2nd Floor, New York, NY 10033

Abstract: Low-income Latino children, as a group, have both higher risk for early childhood dental caries (1.8 times more caries in Latino preschoolers than white peers) and lower odds of having a dental visit (1.5 times less likelihood of having a dental visit). This project, “Cuidando La Sonrisa de Su Bebé,” addresses this population by developing and delivering oral health promotional messages to the caregivers of high-risk young Latino children through an existing home health visitation program. A collaborative effort between Columbia University and a community-based home visitation program, “Best Beginnings,” managed by Alianza Dominicana, a social and health service agency, developed a culturally appropriate curriculum and training materials. It prepared family support workers to provide oral health messages to high-risk families as part of their overall health messages. A 25 page bilingual “flip chart” was developed for use as an educational guide by the family support workers when discussing oral health issues with target parents, thus ensuring consistency of message and facilitating message delivery. 20 family support workers were trained, to deliver oral health messages to approximately 300 families each year. In addition, to the provision of relevant preventive messages to caregivers, this community-based grassroots project helped underscore the importance of oral health within the larger Latino community. This presentation highlights the processes involved in building and maintaining collaborative relationships that are vital to the success of community-based participatory work.

Learning Objectives:

Learning Objectives: Participants will be able to:
• Recognize the importance of community-participatory work in oral health promotion;
• Identify components of a culturally appropriate bilingual curriculum for home health workers and
• Promote oral health awareness, education and programming into community-based health promotion and disease prevention programs.

Keywords: Child Health, Oral Health

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.