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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Recorded presentation

Ruth (Toni) B. Pickard, PhD¹, Lourdes Vazquez, RDH¹, and David W. Wright, PhD². (1) Physician Assistant Dept./ Health Services Mgmt & Community Development, Wichita State University, 1845 Fairmount Ave., Wichita, KS 67260-0043, 316-978-5637, rpickard@cox.net, (2) Dept. of Sociology, Wichita State University, 1845 Fairmount Ave., Wichita, KS 67260-0025

Surveys over ten years in a diverse inner-city neighborhood show no improvement in dental access. In 2005, respondents again ranked dental need a high priority. In spite of growing awareness of the problem by major policy groups, dentistry for the poor in Kansas remains a charitable enterprise. The dental community mobilizes an annual Mission of Mercy, providing thousands of treatments over 2 days. The free events bring relief to underserved patients but one-time encounters cannot change entrenched behaviors that undermine oral health. We describe a public-private partnership bringing continuous care to a community where most are first generation immigrants without health insurance. Lacking a state dental school, we partnered with the university's dental hygiene department and a network of dentists to serve 50 families annually in our parenting program. Services, including mandatory educational workshops, are facilitated with interpreters, child care and transportation. Patients pay 20 % of the oral care services valued at $1,000. Foundations provide 40 % of the remaining costs while network dentists discount services 40 %. To date, 388 individuals have been screened and 128 individuals selected as primary patients, 91% of whom are Spanish speaking.. Dental hygiene visits have been provided to 166 patients, 196 family members have participated in a Xylitol project, and 94 visits to dentists have been completed. We report many lessons learned and describe the transition to our newest endeavor, a community based dental clinic whose partners include dental equipment suppliers, a faith-based organization, and the state agency for the medically underserved.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session, participants will be able to

• Describe a public-private program that is changing dental care for the poor in South Central Kansas from sporadic charitable events to culturally sensitive, continuously available community-based services.
• Identify a set of solutions to pitfalls in working with patients unaccustomed to dental visit expectations
• Identify key facilitators that promote cooperation with dental services among immigrant patients

Keywords: Oral Health Needs, Community-Based Care

Related Web page: www.HOP-HOKC.org

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? Yes

Organization	Clinical/Research Area	Type of Relationship
Healthy Options for Kansas Communities (HOP)	Public Health/Community Campus Partner organization	Advisory Committee/Board, Consultant, Founder & Executive Director, pro bono administration; occasional small administrative compensation stipend or professional travel included in grants to organization, Other (please describe) and Speaker's bureau and teaching engagements

Any company-sponsored training?	No
Any institutionally-contracted trials related to this submission?	Yes
Have you received salary support, retainer, or other monies to support your position as part of the research/clinical trials?	Yes
Have you served as the Principal Investigator) for the research/clinical trials?	Yes
Have the results of your research/clinical trials been published?	No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

Recorded presentation