Maternal and Child Health Library
This and past issues of the MCH Alert are available at http://www.mchlibrary.info/alert/archives.html.
February 2, 2007
1. New Edition of Oral Health Knowledge Path Available
2. Journal Supplement Highlights Findings from the
National Survey of Children's Health
3. New Organization Focuses on Adolescent Health Care
Reform
4. Article Describes a Successful School-Based Mobile
Dental Program
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Special Notice: National Children's Dental Health Month
National Children's Dental Health Month (NCDHM) is an annual nationwide
observance throughout the month of February. NCDHM focuses on providing
oral health education to all children. Local observances often include
poster, coloring, and essay contests; health fairs; free oral health
screenings; museum exhibits; classroom presentations; and dental office
tours.
The American Dental Association (ADA) produces a program-planning kit
for state and local dental societies and alliances to assist them in
promotion efforts. The 2007 kit, which includes a poster, a planning
workbook, suggested resources, reproducible handouts, and publicity
information, is available at http://www.ada.org/prof/events/featured/gkas/2007_content_group.asp.
NCDHM 2007 coloring and activity sheets for children are available at http://www.ada.org/public/events/ncdhm/index.asp#fun.
Classroom ideas and resources are available at http://www.ada.org/public/education/teachers/ideas.asp.
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1. NEW EDITION OF ORAL HEALTH KNOWLEDGE PATH AVAILABLE
The new edition of Knowledge Path: Oral Health and Children and
Adolescents is an electronic guide to recent resources that analyze
data, describe effective programs, and report on policy and research
aimed at improving access to and the quality of oral health for
children and adolescents. The knowledge path, produced by the MCH
Library and the National Maternal and Child Oral Health Resource
Center, contains separate sections that identify resources on specific
aspects of oral health including dental sealants, early childhood
caries, fluoride varnish, Head Start, child care, school-based
education, and school-based care. The final section lists oral health
resources for consumers. The path is intended for use by health
professionals, program administrators, educators, policymakers, and
families who are interested in tracking information on this topic. The
knowledge path is available at http://www.mchlibrary.info/KnowledgePaths/kp_oralhealth.html.
MCH Library knowledge paths on other maternal and child health topics
are available at http://www.mchlibrary.info/KnowledgePaths/index.html.
The MCH Library welcomes feedback on the usefulness and value of these
knowledge paths. A feedback form is available at http://www.mchlibrary.info/KnowledgePaths/feedback.html.
More information about oral health and children and adolescents is
available from the MCH Library's organizations resource list at http://www.mchlibrary.info/action.lasso?-database=Organizations&-layout=Web&-response=/databases/OrgLists/orgs_oralhealth.html&-MaxRecords=all&-DoScript=auto_search_oralhealth&-search
and from the National Maternal and Child Oral Health Resource Center at
http://www.mchoralhealth.org.
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2. JOURNAL SUPPLEMENT HIGHLIGHTS FINDINGS FROM THE NATIONAL SURVEY OF
CHILDREN'S HEALTH
The February 2007 supplement to Pediatrics heralds new findings from
the 2003 National Survey of Children's Health (NSCH), a
random-digit-dial survey of more than 100,000 children considered to
have special needs designed to provide national- and state-level
estimates for a variety of physical, emotional, and behavioral child
health indicators. The supplement, sponsored by the Maternal and Child
Health Bureau, contains 15 articles prepared by multidisciplinary teams
of academics, collaborations of state maternal and child health staff
and university faculty, and teams of researchers working across federal
agencies. The articles highlight unique aspects of the NSCH, providing
a sense of the breadth and depth of information available from the
survey as well as its analytical potential. A final commentary focuses
on where to concentrate efforts to improve children's health and plans
for future rounds of the survey. The supplement will be available to
subscribers at http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/supplpage.shtml.
More information about the NSCH is available at http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/slaits.htm
and http://mchb.hrsa.gov/programs/dataepi.
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3. NEW ORGANIZATION FOCUSES ON ADOLESCENT HEALTH CARE REFORM
Incenter Strategies, a new affiliate of the Maternal and Child Health
Policy Research Center, has announced the availability of the following
four new publications on adolescent health and health care:
- Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Adolescent Health and Access to
Care provides new national information on disparities in health status
and access to care among Hispanic, Black, and White adolescents ages
12-17. The fact sheet addresses racial and ethnic disparities for a
broad set of indicators and also examines the impact of income,
insurance, and mother's or household education on these indicators. The
fact sheet is available at http://www.incenterstrategies.org/jan07/factsheet1.pdf.
- Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health and Access to Care Among
Older Adolescents presents new national information on disparities and
health status and access to care among Hispanic, Black, and White
adolescents ages 18-21. A set of five widely used indicators were
selected to assess whether income, insurance, and mother's education
explain racial and ethnic differences. The fact sheet is available at http://www.incenterstrategies.org/jan07/factsheet2.pdf.
- Making the Case for Addressing Adolescent Health Care draws on
data from multiple studies and national surveys to document the
failings of the current system of health care financing and delivery in
addressing the unique needs of adolescents. The authors argue for more
effective health care in which intensive health-promotion interventions
are available; health care for physical and behavioral conditions is
integrated; and the unique needs, perspectives, and vulnerabilities of
adolescents are understood. The fact sheet is available at http://www.incenterstrategies.org/jan07/factsheet3.pdf.
- Preliminary Thoughts on Restructuring Medicaid to Promote
Adolescent Health proposes an enhanced set of health-promotion and
primary-care benefits designed specifically for adolescents that can be
offered through the Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnostic and
Treatment program, or as an alternative benefit package under the
Deficit Reduction Act. The issue brief also suggests possible changes
to payment policies to support comprehensive preventive and
primary-care-service delivery for adolescents. The issue brief is
available at http://www.incenterstrategies.org/jan07/issuebrief1.pdf.
Readers: Incenter Strategies will be focusing on building partnerships
and promoting interdisciplinary models of health care to improve the
accessibility and availability of health care for adolescents. More
information is available at http://www.incenterstrategies.org.
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4. ARTICLE DESCRIBES A SUCCESSFUL SCHOOL-BASED MOBILE DENTAL PROGRAM
"Because the program provides free services in schools, it removes most
barriers to oral health care including parents' inflexible work
schedules, lack of transportation, eligibility, bureaucratic processes,
and costs," state the authors of an article published in the January
2007 issue of the Journal of School Health. Dental disease is the most
common chronic disease among children. The Healthy People 2010
initiative calls for increasing the proportion of children receiving
sealants on their molar teeth, increasing the proportion of low-income
children and adolescents receiving preventive oral health services, and
increasing the number of school-based oral health programs. This
article describes such a program -- the St. David's Dental Program --
which screens, treats, and educates children in two counties in central
Texas.
History and Funding
The St. David's Dental Program has been in operation since 1988 and
provides treatment in mobile dental vans parked in school parking lots.
The program is funded by St. David's Community Health Foundation, with
support from other organizations, the City of Austin, and volunteers.
The program does not receive reimbursement or government funding. Its
services are free to clients.
Population Served
The program targets children from families with low incomes by
traveling to Title I schools. Ninety percent of the individuals served
are children from families with low incomes who display decay,
gingivitis, pain, or other acute symptoms at their schools. The
remaining 10% are children and adults referred through health and
social services during the summer months.
Cost and Value of Services
In calendar year 2005, the cost of the program, excluding services
donated in kind, was $1.2 million. Average cost per client was
approximately $114. The value of services rendered was $2.1 million.
Average value per encounter was about $183, and average value of
services per client was about $337.
Measuring Outcomes
The program is in the early stages of designing a longitudinal study to
estimate the impact of services on individuals and the community over
time.
Overcoming Specific Challenges
The program is working to (1) increase the consent form return rate,
(2) develop a referral system and build a network of private dentists
willing to provide free services to children whose oral health needs
cannot be addressed by the program, (3) keep vans and dental equipment
properly maintained, and (4) expand services to meet the unmet need for
oral health care in Central Texas.
The authors conclude that "factors important to the program's success
include sustained funding for general operating costs, well-compensated
clinicians to deliver care and experienced human service workers to
manage program operations, the devotion of resources to maximize
consent form return rates, and the development of strong relationships
with school district and individual school staff."
Jackson DM, Jahnke LR, Kerber L. 2007. Creating a successful
school-based mobile dental program. Journal of School Health 77(1):1-5.
Abstract available at http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1746-1561.2007.00155.x.
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and
Child Health and Georgetown University. MCH Alert is produced by
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