therealmuaz

[therealmuaz]

Macropost #4

What an exciting and learning opportunity it has been this semester to move to our final presentation of the practicum! We, the Team Oral Health have collected the data, prepared questionnaires, interviewed our key informants, met with a lot of stakeholders in NC and other states and have gathered the information that will guide us to make a report about how to propose changes in legislation of community water fluoridation in NC. We will present our findings to NCOHC who will further guide us as to when it is the right time to do so. Meanwhile, we will be focusing on spreading awareness amongst rural communities about importance of oral health as a preventive measure to avoid diseases rather than curing them. We will also focus on educating the workforce involved in the fluoridation of community water so that they can realize its importance and help us in improving overall oral health in NC. For this purpose, our advocacy material may be handy to be distributed by the relevant authorities.

Coming up in a few days, we will be meeting a senator from the Harnett county. This is going to be a remarkable experience as our prime focus of oral health has been the rural residents like Harnett and surrounding areas. We will discuss our findings with him and propose different measures that can be taken to improve oral health in areas where either dental coverage is low due to inadequate facilities or lack of awareness about community water fluoridation. Also, we are looking forward to dig deep into issues of dental insurance as covered by Medicaid, availability of dental assistants and hygienists to improve oral health in NC. Other social determinants like geographical location, ethnicity, rate of literacy and transportation problems are also the key factors that need to be addressed if we have to focus on preventive care rather than curative. We will also try to look for practical solutions that we can offer as a part of the Campbell University Public Health Department and see if we can bring about a positive change in the community by any means…be it legislation or raising awareness…each step taken in the right direction will be an asset. We would also focus more on other diseases like prenatal, diabetes, Cardiovascular and more that are interwined with oral health and can lead to severe consequences including death if not taken care of at an early stage. This is why it is important to raise awareness amongst masses especially the rural communities to focus on preventive oral health care to avoid such diseases. Community water fluoridation can play an important role in this regard as it serves a wider population who are less aware of its importance and may be suffering by not paying regular visits for dental check-ups. On the other hand, we also need to see what changes can be brought at county or state level including incentives for dental practitioners and to the underprivileged population.

NCOHC is working very closely with all the stake holders and have guided us about when and how to propose any change in legislation so as not to alert the opposition for community water fluoridation. They will also guide us according to their calendar as recommended by their political advisor so that any proposed modification or bill can be passed. They will be in contact with us prior to that for proper formatting and verbial usage. We would like to congratulate Dr. Brian who received the John McFarland Leadership Award for his unprecedented commitment to work for the oral health in rural communities. Undoubtedly, this has been a great opportunity to learn about the existing oral healthcare system in NC and the role of all stakeholders including us to promote changes for better community oral healthcare. NCOHC has taken the lead in this direction and we will be working under their guidance for a better future. Wishing everyone for their upcoming tasks. Best of luck!

[therealmuaz]

Wrapping up the semester! We had our final presentation this day and were delighted to meet our wonderful preceptors. Needless to say, Team Oral Health has been united like a family and has strived to bring water fluoridation laws in NC.

#TeamOralHealth

[therealmuaz]

Macropost #3

And finally the wait is over!

This week team Oral Health conducted interviews from different stake holders including a community water fluoridation coordinator, some state dental directors and a program director from the office of Missouri, Iowa, and Albama. There was a lot to learn from this week, so I am trying to list them down and not miss any topic.

Firstly. As we were instructed to conduct the interviews like a conversation, we met via zoom and learnt how to provide a comfortable environment to the interviewees so that they can share their experiences and thoughts in a detailed yet comprehensive manner. Although we had prepared a thorough questionnaire with the questions that we needed the answers for to prepare our presentations for the practicum but still we got to know so many other things which we did not know about or could have thought to asked. When we started talking, they shared their expertise about water fluoridation in their states which gave us a clear direction about how to proceed further if we want to bring changes in the water fluoridation policy of North Carolina. These interview sessions also gave us an opportunity to observe that everything will not go as per our planning and there will be unexpected situations during the conversations that will deviate from our set path…… and the key is that we should be flexible so that we can take all the information and learn how to analyze it carefully by going over the transcripts later when preparing our presentation. We also experienced that all interviewees may not have the kind of information specific to our questionnaire but can definitely give us some insights about water fluoridation in general that will be beneficial for us.

Secondly, we learnt was the importance of use of simple language….simple words that reach hearts and minds….irrespective of literacy rate, socioeconomic background and access to healthcare. Also our key informant interviews provided us with guidelines about consumer protective language in a way that should not arise any opposition by anti- water flouride thinkers. The Missiouri state advisor while sharing his experience told us about how they had worked in detail about their state fluoridation policy using technical terms but were advised by the legal counsel to keep- it simple to get approved.

Thirdly, we got to know the education of water supply operators and workers who are the people practically fluoridating the water reservoirs. If they are not aware about the importance of their jobs, then who will be… to say the least? Some states require that the earn their CE credits so they know about why do they have to fluoridate water and in which amount rather than taking it as an extra burden in their job responsibilities and stopping that whenever they want to . The community water Flouridation Directors and other related departments play a crucial role by holding webinars and information sessions to keep these people aware and updated about their roles in promoting oral health.

Fourthly, we realized that probably we are not the first ones who are conducting interviews like these but other states also have done a lot and how important is it to have a good networking system between different departments of the same state and other states who are going through or have been through the process of community water fluoridation, legislation and modification of policies, analysis of overall oral health results and recommended actions. There is a lot that each state can learn from other experiences and that is our goal for water fluoridation of NC. By comparison and networking with other stake holders will help us make and modify policies best suited according to our requirements, as well as how to educate our people about the importance of oral health and the role of community water fluoridation.

In the end, I will be working with The Team Oral Health to prepare a report and presentation by discussing these interviews and selected themes to prepare us for modification of legislation about fluoridation policies in NC. We will be emphasizing on the promotion of education about the topic as it can really make a difference in the lives of those who are affected by inadequate oral health access. I appreciate the efforts of NCOHC for leaving no stones unturned for the cause of promoting Oral health and helping us meet people who can guide us so well in our project.

[therealmuaz]

Macropost # 2

Without rigorous and detailed training of NCOHC, we The Team Oral Health would not be in a position to start off with our project of making an effort to change the policy of water fluoridation in NC, specifically for rural areas like Harnett County where this can be the most effective solution for promoting oral health. Last week, we focused on identifying the key stakeholders of other states who will serve us as role models for bringing a change in the fluoridation of their water public water and some departments of NC by Power Mapping Exercise. This week, we outlined the ways in which interviews will be conducted for which Brady and Crystal discussed the importance of confidentiality and ways to secure it to achieve optimum results when we will be presenting our case for change in policy. The logistics that included the performance of recording machines and mics were also discussed so as to prevent any hindrance while the interview will be conducted. They also helped us to keep the interviews engaging and productive by preparing thoroughly researched questionnaire about the content and topic.

We arranged the questions in the order of simple to complex ones- starting off with yes/no questions leading to open-ended ones. We deliberately prepared these questions to make our guests at ease and to create a comfortable and safe environment for them to share their views openly. I believe that preparing questionnaires for such interviews is a very important aspect of our practicum and the field of public health as it provides the basis for data collection and analysis which results in changing and implementing policies for not only dental care but overall health as well.

As per the current water policy in NC state, any change in fluoride level in public water has only to be allowed by the health department while not making it mandatory for the people of the community know about any changes in fluoride level in public water or any such issue. There is no time limit set for sharing any information with the public. For this reason, it is very important for us to conduct interview from such relevant stakeholders of other states who have been influential in changing state policies and letting the people know about them. In our communities, raising awareness before a decision is made to change the policy will lead to discussion among the people and they will become more knowledgeable about what is good for their health and what measures are being taken to support the cause. In case of ambiguities and certain misperceptions, engagement of public will help to remove any such discrepancies, paving way for easy legislation and implementation of policies. Also, people in rural areas like Harnett County and others will be able to better utilize the available resources and respond positively to the efforts put in by various departments like Department of public Health etc to improve their healthcare status.

Another important part of the discussion was the Advocacy Training conducted by our two presenters, Brandy and Crystal. It included the detailed information about “long” and “short” sessions. We came to know about how legislation calendar works in NC and how there are certain things that can be maneuvered around according to the priority or urgency. The bills are typically filed in the long sessions for two years while appropriation bills occur in the short sessions. It is up to the lobbyists and grass root organizations as to when is the right time to present a certain bill, who is to talk with the legislators and under what conditions. Brady also shared his personal experience with us when he worked as a legislator and how has the skills learnt in there are helping him to work towards his professional career while bringing an improvement in the performance of NCOHC. One valuable tip that he gave was of designing a “pamphlet” or a “one-page flyer” that would chop down the complex issues like water fluoridation or any other health related topics so that a skim look at the content before the voting would be able to convince the legislators to support the cause, apart from briefings. These flyers will be handy when we will be running campaigns for public awareness as to why and how fluoridation of water can help rural communities be at par of less disease burden. I am sure that we, the Team Oral Health, are learning such important skills and hands on experience from our guest speakers and panelists which will help us a lot when we will face such challenges in practical life. The content of our practicum seems to have given us a cause and now we are working to set goals and pave way to achieve those using Public Health Research Guidelines. Looking forward to what comes next!

[therealmuaz]

Presentation Day! Team Oral Health had presented their ideas for the upcoming years on water fluoridation for NC. The meeting was conducted to the preceptors of Oral Health as well as guest speaker Dr. Cline. Overall, it was a wonderful experience and the preceptors and invitees seemed quite intrigued by the ideas presented. Now, Team Oral Health looks forward to have their final presentation in a couple of days!

#TeamOralHealth

[therealmuaz]

Wrapping up the semester! Team Oral Health is discussing ideas on what to do for the short video they make for the community. Stay tuned to see what innovative ideas they come up with!

#TeamOralHealth

[therealmuaz]

Working on end of semester presentations for the class and our preceptor! We will be covering a wide variety of topics from our key informant interviews, our studies, and walk through our experience as #TeamOralHealth

[therealmuaz]

Macro post # 1

There could not have been a better time to discuss the need of change in policies and actions regarding oral health when a large population of the world has adopted changes in lifestyle because of pandemic, Covid-19; be it mask wearing, social distancing or lockdown. As more and more people who are being vaccinated have a better chance of survival with less effects of the life threatening disease, it has also created a surge of self-awareness and utilize better health options- making this time an opportunity to raise awareness about boosting immunity through prevention and boosting immunity by provision of better oral health through fluoridation of public water. Since CDC is directly involved in the overall pandemic observation in US and vaccinations, their advice on fluoridation can be extremely effective when we, the Team Oral Health will start our campaign in NC.

We all have learnt about oral hygiene and maintaining good oral health by regular visits to dentists from early childhood, but not many people take actions for prevention or even discuss about it till we face diseases or it becomes mandatory to pay a visit to the dentist.. Also, more information relies only on tooth decay and brushing twice daily with less importance given to the fact that lapses in oral health can contribute to gastrointestinal and cardiovascular diseases as well. The importance of oral health to prevent diseases and boost immunity is a matter that is accepted by the educated people in NC where some efforts are made for oral hygiene and abstaining from tooth decay at school level. But the rural communities like Harnett and other surrounding areas are not well aware of its importance as such. Therefore, fluoridation is the easiest and most affordable way to address this issue, for which we have to collect facts and figures and data to support our argument, so that when we take the bill for legislation, we are well-prepared with the statistics, reasons and plans for this project.

This week we analyzed how some other states like Alabama, Maine, Iowa, Mississippi and Missouri have not only done legislation about fluoridation of public water, but also created awareness among people for its acceptance. I think this is a huge milestone that they have achieved because letting the people know about the steps taken for their overall health make it easy to make and change legislation while getting them into confidence about the approach and actions of state and concerned authorities. As in this week, we learnt about the insurance companies who do not support the visits to dental clinics for dental check-ups are one of the hurdles; people do not go there on time or without urgency. It is the call of the hour for them to reassess their policies regarding age and visits to the dentists and play their role in spreading awareness about oral health. This is also important that when fluoridation of water will be done in NC, the reduction in number of cases in tooth decay will pressurize such companies to give more incentives and less insurance for oral health. The social determinants of health including housing, economic stability, socio-cultural differences also have a major impact on how and when people go to the dentists. Despite, the need for equality for provision of resources for better healthcare to all citizens and non-citizens, this is a goal that has not been achieved so far. So, fluoridation of water can help to overcome such challenges to a notable effect.

Another important piece of information that was shared with us was NC Practice Act for Dentist Providers. It included two articles, Article 2, Dentistry Act and Article 16, Dental Hygiene Act. Both of these articles included information about practicing dentistry with licensing, and how important is it for the dentists and hygienists to work in a professional manner once they get their license. Not only they are supposed to treat patients with oral health/ diseases, their most important job responsibility is also to create awareness through their professions and clinics for oral hygiene and prevention. Also, starting from October 1st, dental hygienists will be allowed to use anesthesia for their patients, but they need to make sure that they have a certification for this.

Advocacy Training 101 also plays a pivotal role in this regard as such rural areas need more funding to set up dental clinics for early screening and telehealth interventions to help reduce the risk and spread of oral diseases. The Power mapping exercise done during the meetings gave us a better picture as to who are the key stakeholders when we will be doing legislation or making policies for water fluoridation. We got to know about the influence of some departments like Department of Environmental quality, NC DHHS and NC Dental Hygiene Association who will be supportive enough for our water fluoridation cause in NC to improve overall oral health of all state residents in general and of the people of Harnett County and the surrounding areas in specific. We also got some first-hand knowledge about the key informant interviews, the selection and criterion of questions, maintaining confidentiality and the approach towards different stakeholders. Some interviews were also prepared for the concerned departments of other states like Maine and Iowa who already have water fluoridation in their public water system through legislation. Also, the people in these states are more aware about their oral health, so we are now looking forward when we will be conducting our interviews and what type of response will we get. Let’s keep the fingers crossed!

[therealmuaz]

This week Team Oral Health spoke with representatives from the state of Iowa, Missouri and Alabama regarding their policies with water fluoridation. It was quite an eventful week where we learned ideas from other states and how we can implement them in North Carolina!

#TeamOralHealth

[therealmuaz]

Amazing session this week with our guest speaker from CDC, Casey Hannan (MPH) (Director of Division of Oral Health) as he talked to our team about legislative problems related to Oral Health and how the department overcomes them. The team had the opportunity to ask questions as well where water fluoridation was a topic of keen interest. We hope to see Casey Hannan soon to help broaden our perspective on Oral Health!

#TeamOralHealth

[therealmuaz]

PowerMapping is an excellent tool which identifies the best individuals to target to promote challenge. This week Team Oral Health learned how to use its resources to target the most important bodies.

#TeamOralHealth

[therealmuaz]

This week for Oral Health we reviewed the NC practice act, mainly articles 2 and 16 and also worked to familiarize ourselves with the ncleg.net website. We also touched base on power mapping resources which is a topic we all look forward to for next week!

#TeamOralHealth

[therealmuaz]

Team Oral Health’s weekly meeting discussing statues and regulations for different states and their fluoride levels. Necessity of oral health care was also discussed and how high the prices were, forcing different groups of people to find alternatives.

#TeamOralHealth

[therealmuaz]

Team Oral Health’s first meeting exchanging contact information!