1602-11946

Virginia: Support to the Petersburg Wellness Consortium (PWC) to act as a lead grassroots convener in the Petersburg community as part of the Grassroots Engagement Strategy. One of main lessons the PWC learned during the first phase is that oral health is not seen as a priority health issue nor is it initially regarded as a healthy equity and social justice concern. One of the major successes, especially given that the core team members did not have an oral health background, is that they were instrumental in introducing oral health as a major health disparity issue that is connected to many other more well-known health concerns among key stakeholders in Petersburg. More importantly, once community residents and activists started to understand the association of oral health with overall health concerns, they were highly receptive to the prioritization of oral health within the PWC’s health advocacy agenda. Oral Health 2020 investment of $100,000 will be used to implement a community engagement strategy focused on developing a critical consciousness amongst various stakeholders, including those most affected by health disparities, about the interconnectedness of oral health disparities and the social determinants of health. The main focus of the strategy is the support and empowerment of local community residents as Oral Health Ambassadors (OHA). The proposed strategy is to engage, train and support members of the target audience by building capacity, by providing education about oral health disparities and raising the consciousness of others in their social network and beyond about oral health. These OHA will be critical in changing the public perception of oral health in Petersburg. The strategy includes first engaging with residents and other stakeholders in a meaningful way, to develop shared knowledge about why oral health matters for all people. The priority is to facilitate that “ah-ha” moment when the public can begin to connect the various factors that are associated with oral health and why oral health ought to be a priority in our health discourse and policy. This investment aligns with the Oral Health 2020 goal to improve the public perception of the value of oral health to overall health.