Why CareQuest Institute Grantmaking Focuses on Communities

CareQuest Institute’s grantmaking efforts focus on five cross-cutting strategies: health and racial equity, social determinants of health, community-centered measurement, learning and capacity building, and innovation in oral health.

Why those five areas?

“We really do believe that working toward systems change is about looking deeper,” said Trenae Simpson, MBA, director of grants and programs at CareQuest Institute, during an April webinar, “Community-Centered Grantmaking: Why, How, and What Lies Ahead.”

Throughout the webinar, Simpson discussed that what initially began as a grantmaking program focused mostly on programmatic work to address specific needs in the community — like the lack of equipment or the development of local clinics — has evolved into a more systems-change approach centered on advocacy around oral health care policy on the local, state and national level.

“It’s about challenging our assumptions and really getting to the root cause of issues that we want to address,” Simpson said. “We believe that everyone should have the same opportunity to be healthy, which obviously includes addressing their oral health and [overall] health. Equity is really that underlying principle that guides our collective actions as an organization.”

To put that principle into action, CareQuest Institute works with grantees directly involved with and invested in their communities to create a more equitable oral health system. Two CareQuest Institute grantees represented their communities during the webinar: Jennifer Goldberg, deputy director at Justice in Aging, and Pareesa Charmchi Goodwin, former executive director at the Connecticut Oral Health Initiative (COHI).

Together with Simpson, Goodwin and Goldberg answered several participant questions toward the end of the webinar. Four of those questions are below:

1. What advice do you have for health centers that are not able to engage in policy work?

First, think about what partners might be in your area or state that are engaging in policy work and connect with them to understand how your unique voice adds value to what they are doing. This could be your primary care association or a local or state oral health coalition. Second, build a repository of information and data highlighting the specific needs of your patient population. While community health centers may not engage in policy work directly, they often times are in close proximity to low-income communities that are the most at stake in many areas of oral health policy. Collecting their stories and information can be a meaningful tool to drive change.

2. What is the biggest challenge Justice in Aging faces in advocating for Medicare Part B to include dental benefits?

The legislative deadlock in Congress. There’s strong bipartisan support to include dental in Medicare, so it’s a matter of the opportunity in Congress to move the legislation forward. To help create that opportunity and continue the momentum that’s been building over the last few years, we’re continuing to meet with policymakers, highlight the need and disparities in access and outcomes through educational materials and media, and build support at the state and local levels.

3. How does the Connecticut Oral Health Initiative measure success?

We track accessible oral health data and the outcomes and progress of our legislative and administrative policy advocacy campaigns (which is the bulk of our work). This directly aligns with our vision of working toward all Connecticut residents will have equal opportunity to obtain the services needed to maintain good oral health.

4. How do we make sure we (organizations' workforces) have the cultural humility and appropriate processes to engage communities and avoid perpetuating historical harms?

There is no easy or short-term solution for this. Building deep and meaningful relationships with communities relies on trust, which is something that is fostered over time. Fortunately, we have a network of partners that have been engaging communities meaningfully that love to share their experiences. There are also some tools in the field that can support the operationalizing of intentional community engagement.

For more information about CareQuest Institute’s grantmaking efforts, visit http://carequest.org/grantmaking.