1603-12062

Texas: Support to the Texas Health Institute (THI) to develop and support a sustained strategic movement to stimulate inter-professional collaborations and mobilize stakeholders to create shared solutions to improve the effectiveness of the oral health system in Texas. Working in partnership with the Texas Oral Health Coalition (TxOHC), THI and TxOHC will collectively provide backbone support to this movement, guiding vision and strategy, supporting aligned efforts, advancing policy, mobilizing funding, and handling logistical and administrative tasks. As part of this initiative, THI and TxOHC will help the network develop a community-driven framework to advance the oral health movement in Texas, build and develop a collective framework to guide systemic improvement in oral health, guide and facilitate development of a collaborative movement, and identify communication tools to improve the public perception of oral health in a strategic manner. This project will help advance improvement across all four systems, and will help promote the Oral Health 2020 goal of improving public perception of the value of oral health within overall health and the target that oral health is increasingly included in health dialogue and public policy. $190,734 will support THI's and TxOHC's staff time, hosting of grassroots listening sessions, travel reimbursement for selected representatives, a statewide launch meeting, bi-monthly work group meetings, electronic conferencing, and educational materials.