GRANT00024

Support to Kentucky Youth Advocates to conduct the Kentucky Oral Health Coalition’s Oral Health 2014 project, “Achieving Optimal Oral Health Literacy in the Commonwealth” to increase oral health literacy across the state of Kentucky. The Coalition will engage coalition members and non-traditional stakeholders to gather information on the current state of oral health literacy and develop a plan to strengthen oral health literacy. To gain a comprehensive view of oral health literacy across the state, the project activities include surveying health providers, conducting focus groups with consumers, compiling information on current oral health literacy initiatives across the state, and analyzing national best practices in oral health literacy. This information will be used to help the group identify gaps and opportunities for improving oral health literacy. The Coalition will take all information collected and engage in a decision-making process to narrow the focus of its Oral Health 2014 implementation plan. Once the implementation focus is determined, the coalition will plan a strategic oral health literacy campaign to implement in year two of this project. This project clearly aligns with the U.S. National Oral Health Alliance priority area on oral health literacy and has the potential to result in long-term systems-level changes both in local communities and statewide.