1603-12070

National: This investment supports the North Dakota Department of Health’s (NDDH) long-term care project to improve oral healthcare of older adults by connecting state, regional and national partners. With the support of DentaQuest Foundation funding, North Dakota has established a strong reputation for being a leader in older adult oral health care and will be a vital partner in creating a national standard of best practice and Medicare advocacy by sharing developed templates, evaluation results, barriers, lessons learned and best practices, while also advocating with key national partners to ensure that Medicare includes a comprehensive dental benefit. Older adult populations have limited access to oral health care, often due to physical, financial, and transportation constraints. Using a network approach, NDDH developed a sustainable model for delivering care to older adults in long-term care facilities and raised awareness among the state about the importance of meeting the health needs of this population. Disseminating findings and raising awareness of a national scan conducted in prior year’s grant, and evaluation of existing programs and best practices to deliver care to the older adult population, will create the foundation of a model to provide care to this vulnerable population and raise awareness and serve as an advocacy tool for the inclusion of a dental benefit in Medicare. This work in 2017/18 will culminate in a Promising Practice Guide to be created for use within the state and nationally. This guide will identify processes, partners, funding sources, lessons learned and payment models utilized in the current North Dakota long-term care older adult program. Another component of this year’s work will center on inviting new and existing stakeholders to formalize a national workgroup dedicated to addressing the oral healthcare needs of older adults living in long-term care facilities, both in North Dakota and nationwide. Key stakeholders will include the Association of State and Territorial Dental Directors (ASTDD), Oral Health America, Lunder-Dineen, and others. $150,000 will support personnel time associated with building and sustaining partnerships with partners across the state, region, and nation; travel and meeting expenses necessary to conduct outreach to stakeholders; contractors charged with assessing and evaluating progress and outcomes; and administrative costs associated with the implementation of this work. This proposal is aligned with Oral Health 2020 Goal 2: mandatory inclusion of an adult benefit in publicly-funded health insurance and the target that by 2020, Medicare includes a comprehensive dental benefit.