Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #106923

Sam A. Merabi, Tufts University School of Dental Medicine, 69 Marshall Street #2, Somerville, MA 02145, (617) 718 -0555, smerabi@hotmail.com

The healthcare needs for children in residential care facilities are varied and specific to the type of facility and groups of children that are cared for. Due to the overwhelming requirements for care, oral health can often fall out of priority or be neglected altogether. Thus, implementing oral health intervention programs in children's housing facilities requires detailed plans that are specifically tailored to the child care center. These programs can be initiated even on a minimal student budget. As a dental student who initiated oral health promotion programs for children in residential care in Boston, Massachusetts and in Lusaka, Zambia, I shall present comparative organizational solutions that follow a need, solution, and sustainability model. Factors taken into consideration with the program design indude the level of present oral health, diet, prevalence of disease, and level of resources. The presentation focuses on organized programs tailored to meet those needs, their respective funding, and their budgets. Also discussed will be specific difficulties of implementing oral health intervention programs in each location. The analysis concludes with plans to maintain the oral health promotion programs to insure sustainable improvements in oral health. Such analysis resulted into vastly different program designs for each population. A comparative study of the oral health intervention designs is presented. A video documentary is also available for presentation of the Zambian program. The comparative study relays information to guide students and professionals to initiate similar programs both domestically and abroad.

Learning Objectives: