American Academy of Pediatrics
PO Box 776437
Chicago, IL
United States
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), specifically the Oral Health Section of the AAP, has been a national partner of CareQuest Institute that is working to bring the pediatrician community together to foster buy-in and support for integrating oral health into primary care. Some of the AAP’s historic work has focused on the elevation of the Campaign for Dental Health as a national leading voice in efforts around community water fluoridation and Silver Diamine Fluoride (SDF) awareness and implementation within pediatric and primary care settings. One notable milestone because of CareQuest Institute’s partnership with the AAP has been the development and spread of a model oral health risk assessment tool. With support from CareQuest Institute, the AAP successfully standardized a digital version of the assessment tool through the Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources process to strategically integrate capabilities into electronic health records.
AAP seeks support to launch a pilot project, Improving Oral Health in Schools Through TEAMS, which will expand access to school oral health services and supports. This project will build on existing models that provide technical assistance and professional development to school districts for developing, implementing, and evaluating programs that increase access to school health services. School districts will assemble teams with representatives from school health services, public health, community providers (pediatrics and dentistry), and families. Through virtual learning sessions and technical assistance over an 8-month period, the teams will be guided through engaging the community and partners to support improvements in school oral health; assessing their current oral health policies, practices, and programs; identifying key areas for improvement; developing and implementing an action plan; and evaluating changes. Participating teams will increase their ability to identify and implement appropriate and effective oral health policies, practices, and programs in schools.
The second part of this proposal is the development of an oral health micro-module in the HATS. HATS assesses the quality and comprehensiveness of school health services and infrastructure and the strength of school health policies, practices, and programs. School districts use this online tool to identify areas of strength and weakness and track improvements over time. Through this project, a group of experts on school oral health will develop a new oral health micro module. This tool will be utilized by participants in the TEAMS program and will serve as an enduring resource for schools to assess oral health services.
AAP is requesting $125,000 for this work which is less than 1% of the organization’s overall budget. About $55,000 will be utilized to support staff, $27,000 for consultants and subject matter experts, and $5,000 for family advisors. The remainder will go towards supplies and indirect expenses.
This proposal is one of ten selected finalists for the School-Based and School-Linked Initiatives to Improve Oral Health RFP.