Oral Health Equity Project

 

About the Oral Health Equity Project

The Oral Health Equity Project (OHEP) is a multi-year partnership and community-based initiative to improve the oral health status of low-income Boston elders living in public housing and subsidized housing, increase access to care (especially preventative care), and eliminate barriers to accessing oral health services. Since 2002, the Boston Public Health Commission (BPHC) and the Boston Housing Authority (BHA) have been collaborating with students and faculty from the Boston University School of Dental Medicine (BUSDM), the Harvard School of Dental Medicine (HSDM), the Tufts School of Dental Medicine (TSDM) and the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences Forsyth Dental Hygiene Program (MCPHS) to provide free screenings, oral health education, fluoride applications, denture labeling and referrals for follow-up care. In addition to linking elders with direct dental services and providing them with educational and preventative materials, OHEP contributed to the surveillance data needed to ensure a permanent improvement in the oral health of Boston’s residents. Using this data, OHEP launched a new initiative based on the idea that comprehensive dental care for elders includes an understanding of the psychosocial changes that occur with aging, which in turn often affect oral health care. Read entire report. more>>

Next Steps: Improving Oral Health by Addressing Holistic Needs

Building upon four years of data from the Oral Health Equity Project, this next phase strives to move toward a comprehensive and multidisciplinary assessment of Boston’s elders, in an effort to continue to improve their oral health. A team of health care professionals will use a holistic approach to screening elders by integrating multiple disciplines and adapting existing models in other fields. The screening tools will look for signs of cognitive loss, depression, anxiety, alcohol and substance abuse, physical impairments, and elder abuse and neglect, among other problems experienced by older adults. This next phase of the project will help OHEP gather information about psychosocial issues that are important when dealing with older adults. This information will then help health care professionals address these needs to improve oral and general health.

Resources

Senior Oral Health Fact Sheets: § English §    Spanish §    Chinese §    Vietnamese §    Portuguese §    Russian Educational Materials: § How to Keep a Healthy Smile for Life §    Evaluating Psychosocial Functioning in Elderly Dental Patients §    Financing and Reimbursement of Elders’ Oral Health Care   Additional Links: § Boston Partnership for Older Adults  §    Massachusetts Association of Older Americans   §    Mass.gov Elder Affairs     Elder’s Summit Report: § Elder’s Oral Health Summit Agenda §    Elder’s Oral Health Summit: Introduction and Recommendations

Data Collection Forms

§   Appointment Reminder Form           English           Spanish  §    Confirmation Letter Template   §    Consent Form §    OHEP Description  §    OHEP Evalution Form    §    Referral Form §    Screening Form