University of Michigan
1080 South University
Ann Arbor, MI
United States
The University of Michigan (UM) research team consists of three team members: Dr. Adrienne Lapidos, PhD, Clinical Associate Professor, University of Michigan Medical School Department of Psychiatry, Dr. Romesh P. Nalliah, DDS, MHCM, Associate Dean for Patient Services and Clinical Professor of Dentistry, School of Dentistry, and Dr. Danielle Rulli, RDH, MS, DHSc, Clinical Associate Professor, Ohio State University School of Dentistry.
The team will design, conduct, and analyze approximately 100 survey and 25 qualitative interviews of trauma survivors and dental providers to explore the link between psychological trauma and dental care challenges. This study will be among the first to apply rigorous qualitative methods toward specifying best practices in trauma-informed dental care. UM anticipates their work will result in dissemination of pragmatic guidelines for dental practices. Due to prior projects together, the study team has community connections that give them access to this population through mental health centers.
Two areas of trauma will be explored through this research. A high proportion of physical and sexual abuse involves injuries to the head and mouth, which can make visits to an oral health care provider challenging. Patients who have experienced a painful or traumatic dental history at some point in their lives can also lead them to avoid dental care.
Five key lines of inquiry will be asked as part of the study:
How do trauma survivors view dental care? How do dental professionals view their care of trauma survivors?
What do trauma survivors describe as barriers and facilitators to accessing dental care and completing dental care plans?
What aspects of the dental care environment feel especially challenging or fear inducing to trauma survivors?
What are specific accommodations that can make dental care more trauma-informed?
Where does trauma informed dental care begin and end? (when seated in the dental chair, in the waiting room, calling for an appointment, between visits, in the community)
A Community Advisory Board (CAB) will advise the study team on every aspect of research, from design to dissemination, through quarterly meetings and regular correspondence as needed. The research team is leveraging existing community relationships to build a CAB tailored to this study, including dental service providers and people with trauma histories, recruited from historically marginalized underserved communities (psychiatric disabilities, racial and ethnic minorities, and rural populations).
This request is for $132,708 which is less than 1% of the organization’s overall budget. The grant funds will support staff time, travel, materials and supplies to conduct the research, incentives for those participating, and stipends for the Community Advisory Board members.