1510-11521

This investment supports the Arizona American Indian Oral Health Initiative (AAIOHI) to continue to engage and partner with American Indian tribal leaders to build their capacity to create a local environment that supports the inclusion of sustainable and effective oral health practices, programs, and policies centered on the needs of the community. Specifically, AAIOHI will provide trainings and educational opportunities for tribal coalitions to engage in oral health, elevate its importance to the American Indian population, and explore policy and systems solutions that resonate with the community; develop culturally relevant tools and resources for American Indian communities that promote oral health literacy and community engagement around oral health; develop oral health policy and legislative tools that focus on access to care, alternative workforce models, prevention, and coverage for oral health needs; and design and facilitate opportunities for tribal leaders to convene around these issues. Despite a growing awareness of the health needs of the American Indian population, especially as it relates to chronic disease, vast disparities in oral health status continue to persist among this group. This model of engagement of local tribal coalitions has been effective, resulting in the development of three tribal oral health coalitions, two oral health summits attended by tribal leaders and representatives from Indian Health Services, and a legislative forum that focused on the statewide policy issues impacting American Indian populations and explored opportunities for tribes to engage in legislative policy and advocacy efforts. Partnering with AAIOHI will allow us to work together to develop a collaborative structure among tribal coalitions and make important connections with what is happening in Arizona to ongoing advances at the national level. $171,100 will be used to support staff time to coordinate and facilitate ongoing interactions with tribal leaders; travel and meeting expenses associated with 22 on-site reservation meetings, 4 Statewide Executive Committee meetings, 1 Forum focused on oral health; the implementation of 3-5 local pilot projects among interested tribes; and administrative costs necessary for the project’s implementation.