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Advocating for the Importance of Oral Health in the Underserved Community: The Minority Oral Health and Dental Access Program (MOHDAP)
Methods:The MOHDAP program consisted of 2, 3 day classes. During these 2 sessions 50 African American males were trained about the importance of oral health and its relationship to overall health and how to use this information. The lesson discussed on day one of each session was, “The Importance of Oral Health and Total Health”. The lesson discussed on day two of each session was, “Understanding the relationship to oral health and chronic disease”. The lesson discussed on day three of each session was, “How to Prevent Possible Health Problems due to Oral Health Disease”. On day one of each session a pre-test was administered to gage knowledge already known by participants and on day three of each session a post-test was administered to gage learned knowledge by participants. Lastly, participants engaged in focus groups and took a satisfaction survey on day three of each session.
Results:The majority of respondents indicated satisfaction with the curriculum content (95.4%), training materials (95.5%), and facilitation (93.2%-97.7%). 92.7% indicated overall satisfaction with the training event. The pre- and post-curriculum assessment included items to identify comprehension of key terms and information shared during the training sessions. The majority of items showed an increase from pre- to post-test.
Conclusions:Continue the use of educational interventions that demonstrate the importance of oral health and its relationship to chronic disease and other health conditions, to improve the overall quality of life.
Learning Areas:
Administer health education strategies, interventions and programsAdvocacy for health and health education
Assessment of individual and community needs for health education
Chronic disease management and prevention
Epidemiology
Implementation of health education strategies, interventions and programs
Learning Objectives:
Evaluate the improvement of oral health knowledge, attitudes and leadership capacities among up to 50 African American men in the underseved communities of Atlanta, Georgia.
Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: Calvin McAllister, MPH serves as the Program Director and has been responsible for the day-to-day management of MOHDAP deliverables. Mr. McAllister is an employee with PCIA and is a MSM Master of Public Health graduate with a concentration in Health Education and Health Promotion. He has experience working with urban communities on community development issues, community coalition building and has public health expertise in the areas of aging and environmental health.
Any relevant financial relationships? No
I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.