1602-11931

Arizona: Support to the Children’s Action Alliance (CAA) to act as a lead convener in the Phoenix Metropolitan area as part of the Grassroots Engagement Strategy. CAA is an independent voice for Arizona children and families at the in the community, working to promote children's health, education, and security through information and action. Year one of the grassroots initiative resulted in a greater understanding of oral health disease and data indicators on oral health in CAA’s communities; deepened their engagement with community stakeholders around oral health as a community health priority; and resulted in a detailed survey assessment of the attitudes and beliefs around oral health from approximately 800 CAA constituents. CAA also had the opportunity to share their learning with other grassroots partners in Arizona, including Native American Connections and Asian Pacific Community in Action, as well as the entire cohort of OH2020 Grassmiddle partners. The key takeaway from CAAs learning sessions was that Arizona is struggling with oral health for children. Arizona has the highest rate of undiagnosed dental decay among children out of any state in the country. Statewide data show that 54% of 3-year-olds have never visited a dentist. Children ages 2-4 in Arizona have 30% untreated tooth decay, which is double that of the national average. By age 15, almost 80% of Arizona kids will have experienced tooth decay. These disease burdens are especially pronounced for children of Hispanic and Native American descent, two sizable populations in greater Phoenix. Based on CAA’s learning and assessment, Oral Health 2020 investment of $100,000 will be used to implement three core strategies for year two. They include: 1) Continued engagement of community stakeholders by forming a community advisory team on oral health composed of grassroots leaders, 2) Deep learning and engagement with community residents, grassmiddles, and grasstops partners to learn more about and bring community voice into the oral health policy efforts taking shape around Arizona, and finally 3) Publishing and disseminating a factsheet on children’s oral health in Arizona to increase visibility and awareness of oral health issues facing Arizona children at the level of media, policy makers, and the health care community broadly. This investment aligns with the Oral Health 2020 focus of improving the public perception of the value of oral health to overall health.