Integration of Oral Health and Primary Care Practice
This IOHPCP report describes the structured approach, processes and outcomes addressed at the three components of the IOHPCP initiative. Concomitantly, HRSA synthesized the following recommentations:
1. Apply oral health core clinical competencies within primary care practices to increase oral health care access for safety net populations in the united States.
Oral Health Literacy
Oral health and oral health literacy are the focus of interest at the national level as demonstrated in the recommendations from two recent IOM reports and in the objectives of Healthy People 2020 (HHS, 2010a; IOM, 2011a,b). Although the field of oral health literacy is less well developed than health literacy, the roundtable was interested in exploring findings from research in this area and how such findings are being translated into oral health practice. In addition, the Roundtable was interested in the intersection between oral health literacy and health literacy.
Improving Access to Oral Health Care for Vulnerable and Underserved Populations
Oral health care is not uniformly attainable accross the nation. Unfortiunately, individuals who face the greates barriers to care are often among the most vulnerable members of our society. The impact of unmet oral health care needs is magnified by the well-establised connection between oral health and overall health.
This report presents a vision for oral health care in the United States, where everyone has access to quality oral health care throughout the life cycle.
Advancing Oral Health in America
Oral health care is often excluded from our thinking about health. taken together with vision care and mental health care, it seems that problems above the neck are commonly regarded as peripheral to health care policy. This division is reinforced by the fact that dentists, dental hygienists, and dental assistants are separated from other health care professionals in virtually every way: where they are educated and trained, how their servises are reimbursed, and where they provide oral health care.
Interdisciplinary education and health team training: A model for learning and service
This paper describes the efforts of one medical school - The School of Medical Sciences of the University of Nevada, Reno - to institute an interdisciplinary educational program for students in the health field aimed at promoting better communication and collaboration in care.
Maintenance of health care teams: Internal and external dimensions
The complex issues which health care teams face have contributed to the demise of a number of teams and to the disenchantment of many individuals, who voice a litany of complaints, including fatigue, frustration, interpersonal conflict, energy drain, burnout, and rapid turnover associated with teams. If health care teams are to avoid such pitfalls and gain acceptance, they will have to learn to attend to their own maintenance needs, both internal and external.
Some historical notes on interdisciplinary and interprofessional education and practice in health care in the USA
The origins and development of interdisciplinary health care teams in the US is traced from World War II successes with multidisciplinary medical and surgical teams to President Johnson's vision of The Great Society, in which the poor and underserved would have access to benefits of good health through the creation of community health centers located in areas of need. The concept of interdisciplinary teams of health professionals was espoused as a means for providing comprehensive and continuous care to such populations.
Interprofessional conflict and medical errors: Results of a national multi-specialty survey of hospital residents in the US
Clear communication is considered the sine qua non of effective teamwork. Breakdowns in communication resulting from interprofessional conflict are believed to potentiate errors in the care of patients, although there is little supportive empirical evidence. In 1999, we surveyed a national, multi-specialty sample of 6,106 residents (64.2% response rate). Three questions inquired about "serious conflict" with another staff member.
Territoriality and power in the health professions
One of the most remarkable developments in the field of health care during the past several decades has been the rapid proliferation and growth of new health professions and occupations. Where physicians once stood virtually alone, other health workers now greatly outnumber them. There is a greater need for primary care and in many cases these services can be effectively delivered by health care professionals other than physicians, such as nurse practitioners (NP), physician's assistants (PA) and certified nurse midwives (CNM). Still, territorial and power conflicts endure.
Alternative models for the delivery of rural health care: A case study of a western frontier state
This is a case study illustrating the wide variety of models for rural health care delivery found in a western "frontier" state. In response to a legislative mandate, the University of Nevada School of Medicine created the Office of Rural Health in 1977. Utilizing a cooperative, community development approach, this office served as a resource, as well as a catalyst, in the development and expansion of a variety of alternative practice models for health care delivery to small, underserved rural communities.