1602-11938

California: Support to Central Valley Health Policy Institute (CVHPI) to act as a lead convener in the Fresno and greater San Joaquin Valley region. With a mission to improve equity in health and healthcare delivery, CVHPI works to develop the San Joaquin Valley region's capacity for policy analysis, program development, implementation and evaluation by integrating and leveraging the resources of California State University, Fresno, and local community based organizations (CBOs). During the Learn/Plan/Assess phase, CVHPI achieved and put into process five primary outcomes that will guide the work in the year two engage/empower/equip phase. These include: 1) Formation of core and key stakeholder groups (includes grassroots organizers, community based organizations (CBOs), non-profits, and federally qualified health centers (FQHCs), as well as professionals in the oral health sector); 2) Fieldwork, Expert Scan: yielded a survey instrument in conjunction with the core and stakeholder groups to look at oral health perceptions and beliefs of valley residents; 3) Survey Pilot: with select core group partners; 4)Data Collection: with the survey pilot completed, CVHPI is currently in process of collecting data from five counties in the San Joaquin Valley (Fresno, Madera, Merced, Kings and Tulare), and 5) Synthesizing Data: An informal, mix-methods data synthesis is being completed in preparation for the culmination of data collection across five counties in the San Joaquin Valley. This synthesis will be comprised of pilot surveys, fieldwork and expert scan, along with informal, qualitative interviews along with the findings that emerged from our core group and stakeholder meetings. Oral Health 2020 investment of $100,000 will be used to support three primary goals for 2016: 1) Implementation of a deep community engagement strategy to bring community voice, grassroots organizations, and key stakeholders into a process designed to yield community-driven oral health priorities, 2) Complete assessment phase where residents participate in IRB-approved survey to examine attitudes, knowledge and behavior surrounding oral health, and 3) Inform the community: dissemination the research findings to empower community stakeholders in making evidence-based decisions by using the research findings to inform policy and program level decisions about resource allocation, and strategic planning for year three. This investment aligns with the Oral Health 2020 goal to improve the public perception of the value of oral health to overall health.