G-2311-20032

Smiles Across Montana (SAM) is an oral health organization that serves patients by bringing equitable preventative and diagnostic services through mobile clinics and using tele-dental equipment at schools, nursing homes, homeless shelters, and other areas. SAM serves vulnerable populations throughout the state with a focus on rural and Native populations. They are a new organization to CareQuest Institute and would be the only organization to receive CareQuest Institute grant funding in the state of Montana.

SAM has identified opportunities to advance integrated and person-centered models of care in three counties in Montana: Lincoln, Glacier, and Big Horn Counties, which have the highest rates of poverty in the state. SAM’s approach is a pilot program in two of these three communities to deploy non-dental professionals as Community Healthcare Workers (CHW) who will provide education, preventive measures, and referrals to the underserved communities identified. SAM seeks to hire individuals who are already embedded in these communities and have a deep cultural understanding of the challenges and opportunities to increase access to care through innovative ideas and problem-solving. While similar efforts have been made in the past, none of these efforts included hiring individuals from within the communities served, nor have these efforts included training individuals in limited oral healthcare operations to leverage the use off-site dentists via teledentistry.

The proposed pilot encompasses a comprehensive strategy to address the critical issue of access to quality dental healthcare in underserved communities. SAM will engage in recruiting and training CHWs, establishing a patient referral pathway with community partners, conducting program evaluation, and planning for program replication. Activities include collaborating with local organizations to identify potential CHWs, partnering with CHWs to develop culturally sensitive training models, equipping CHWs with teledentistry skills and deploying existing clinical staff to train CHWs, and providing care to 200 patients by creating a referral pathway with community partners.

This request is for $149,950, which is 15% of the organization’s overall budget. The grant funds will support staffing costs, conference travel, curriculum development, and equipment costs.