G-2106-17059

The Lunder-Dineen Health Education Alliance of Maine (Lunder-Dineen) offers free, easily accessible and evidence-based education to Maine health care professionals and the communities they serve. Lunder-Dineen describes that in Maine preventative oral health care is especially important for older adults due to limited emergency benefits in Medicaid until recently and no benefits for non-emergent dental care under Medicare. They are seeking $100,000 to expand their current MOTIVATE program. The MOTIVATE program works with nursing homes in the state of Maine to increase overall organizational knowledge about preventative oral health for nursing home residents, and to implement preventative oral health practices as part of the everyday care in nursing home facilities. They deliver this project through a four-part oral health curriculum that is accessible to all types of nursing home staff and technical assistance to organizations to implement those lessons learned.

If approved, funding this proposal would allow Lunder-Dineen to adapt the current MOTIVATE curriculum and develop MOTIVATE@Home, targeting caregivers of older adults in community rather than nursing home staff.

First, Lunder-Dineen will conduct an oral health needs assessment in collaboration with the University of Maine Center on Aging and the Southern Maine Agency on Aging, which is representative of caregivers. They will perform a statewide survey of oral health training needs among caregivers with the support of the Maine Council on Aging, Maine Oral Health Coalition, and dental schools. Lunder-Dineen will also host four online caregiver focus groups and will interview the Agency on Aging program staff.

The MOTIVATE program’s curriculum and delivery plan will then be adjusted for the new audience and formed into online learning modules including videos and easy to read reference materials. An Ad Hoc Community Advisory Group will provide feedback on program and curriculum design throughout this process.

The MOTIVATE@Home curriculum will then be piloted in Cumberland and York counties of Maine. Once delivered, the program will be evaluated by caregivers connected to the Southern Maine Agency on Aging in a second round of focus groups, and the curriculum will be updated. The program model and findings will then be shared with other oral health advocates in Maine, with the long-term vision being widespread expansion of MOTIVATE@Home across Maine. Lunder-Dineen will also share the program curriculum and findings with other state agencies on aging, advocacy stakeholders, policy makers and the OPEN network.

Budget line items are associated with conducting the needs assessment, program content development and design, and meeting fees. This request represents less than 1% of the organization’s overall budget.