Recorded presentation

Elise Linder, MSW, LCSW, Community Voices Miami, Collins Center for Public Policy, Inc., 150 SE Second Avenue, Miami, FL 33131, 305-377-4484, elinder@collinscenter.org and Begoña Calcerrada, North Beach Health Coalition, Community Voices Miami, 1701 Normandy Drive, Miami Beach, FL 33141.

Addressing the access issue is difficult, especially in Miami, where over 25 % of the population is uninsured. Community Voices Miami (CVM) has convened community stakeholders to develop a community-driven, strategic plan to increase access to healthcare and develop funding mechanisms for the uninsured. One of the Miami Action Plan for Access to Healthcare (MAP) objectives is to increase the number of uninsured and underinsured consumers with access to oral healthcare. The following action steps were developed to move community members, providers and policymakers towards this objective: 1) increase awareness of the need for affordable oral health services; 2) increase awareness of the need for oral health coverage in insurance plans; 3) increase the capacity for public/private partnerships; and 4) increase access to oral health services. A CVM capacity building grantee, the North Beach Health Coalition, has begun implementing these action steps by: 1) engaging local providers to take uninsured patients into their practices; 2) advocating that a dental clinic be located in their neighborhood; 3) meeting with local leaders to inform them of the gaps in services; and 4) organizing two days of oral health screenings at two elementary schools for Spring 2004. CVM will build on outcomes from the Coalition’s work and highlight best practices of this and other models which can increase access to care. The goals of this session are to present the process for building community consensus, lessons learned and best practices currently underway in Miami.

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