Sanjana Ajey Bhardwaj, MD, MPH¹, Heather Lawson- Myers, MDS², Hope Ramsay, MPH¹, Maxine Ruddock- Small³, Barbara McGaw⁴, and Brendan Bain, DM, MPH¹. (1) Department of Community Health and Psychiatry, University of the West Indies, Mona Campus, Gibraltar Camp Road, Kingston, 7, Jamaica, (876) 970 0377, drsanjana_b@yahoo.com, (2) Jamaica Dental Association, C/O UWI HARP, Post Grad Building, UHWI, Kingston, 7, Jamaica, (3) HIV /AIDS Response Programme, University of the West Indies, Gibralter Camp Road, Mona Campus, Kingston, 7, Jamaica, (4) CHART, University of the West Indies, Post Grad Building, UHWI complex, Kingston, 7, Jamaica

While much of the work in capacity building and training in HIV /AIDS in Jamaica has been focused on medical health care providers, the oral health care providers, namely, dentists, dental assistants, dental nurses, dental hygienists and dental technicians have not received the same attention. This is true despite the fact that the oral environment is an ideal setting for early recognition of HIV infection. It is important that the team approach in management of the HIV positive patient is emphasized and oral health care providers work in close collaboration with other health care providers in order to provide the best possible care and management to the client. The University of the West Indies HIV /AIDS Response Programme, Jamaica Dental Association and Caribbean HIV/ AIDS Regional Training Network addressed the issue of capacity building of oral health providers and stigma and discrimination against PLWHAs by: 1) Building capacity of oral care providers – through training addressing the whole continuum of recognition, diagnosis, treatment, care and support of people living with HIV /AIDS 2) addressing discriminatory behaviours and attitudes of oral health care providers through role models, leadership training and creating a network of providers. The capacity building process was implemented in steps, namely, needs assessment, Training of Trainers workshop, series of capacity building workshops, developing a resource manual tailored to identified needs. The paper describes this process and results from the assessment and training evaluations are enumerated. Recommendations for curriculum and policy development are highlighted.

Learning Objectives: At the end of the submission, participants will be able to

• Understand the critical role that oral health care providers play in the AIDS epidemic
• Explore the steps undertaken for building capacity in dental care providers in a developing country setting
• Identify key components of a skill and capacity building HIV /AIDS program for dental care providers

Keywords: HIV/AIDS, Oral Health

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I have a significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.
Relationship: The University of the West Indies HIV /AIDS Response Programme (UWI HARP)