G-2404-21266

The American Institute of Dental Public Health (AIDPH) was created in 2015 to promote and disseminate evidence-based health promotion practices to advanced education students and practitioners in dental public health.

CareQuest Institute provided an Executive Director's Fund grant to AIDPH in 2022 for $75,000 to support planning for Veterans Oral Health Hill Day. Additional funding for Veterans Oral Health Hill Day was provided at the beginning of 2023, split across Philanthropy and Advocacy. The Health Transformation team also contracts with AIDPH on Veterans health work. In the fall of 2023, AIDPH was awarded one of ten Disability Inclusion and Justice in Oral Health request for proposals (RFP) grants to create a community of empowered advocates for the disability community, including disability self-advocates, and increased access to coverage and oral healthcare for the disability community. AIDPH collaborated with the Coalitions of Texans with Disabilities (CTD) to develop a community-informed slate of tools for advocates to use to expand access to care for people with disabilities through Medicaid policy.
The proposed focus for this grant continues the veterans’ oral health work through policy and advocacy efforts and the oral health for individuals with disabilities work through self-advocacy. Both areas have a strong community voice component.
With funding, AIDPH will expand their Veteran Oral Health Virtual Road Tour to feature educational sessions that rain state stakeholders to utilize state-based data to identify key policy issues and inform advocacy priorities. Additionally, AIDPH will convene members of the Oral Health Community Advisory Board (OHCAB) and the Community-Engaged Research Task Force to collaboratively develop solutions to oral health disparities, including individuals with disabilities. This ensures voices of historically marginalized communities are integral to the systems-change process, driving solutions that directly address their needs and improve oral health outcomes. Together, these activities will result in community driven policy priorities and advocacy plan.
The budget for this proposal includes $141,176 for staff time, close to $20,000 in stipends for community voice participation, $12,500 for NOHC and Colloquium travel, and $7,500 for website support for vetdentaldata.org. The remainder of the funds are for communications support and indirect funds. This request represents 22% of the organization's overall budget.