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Events and Projects:2nd Annual Meskin Symposium "Meeting the Oral Health Needs of the Aging Population: Education, Service & Advocacy"The Santa Fe Group partnered with Nova Southeastern Univeristy to identify and establish best practices and resources to train healthcare providers to care for the unique needs and challenges of the elder population’s oral health. Over 75 interdisciplinary thought leaders participated in this event. The Program Agenda provides an overview of the important discussion topics. Presentation hand-outs can be downloaded from the Reports & Papers section. Symposium Participants Sponsors & Partners ******************************************************* Related Industry Events:
******************************************************* Expanding Access to Primary Care: New Oral Health Workforce ModelsThe Santa Fe Group partnered with Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, New York Academy of Medicine, and the Center for Health Professionals to convene a conference on June 4-5, 2008 in New York City. A comprehensive meeting summary and list of sponsors are posted below. Expanding Access to Primary Care: New Oral Health Workforce Models Meeting Summary ******************************************************** Oral Health for the Elderly: Challenges and Opportunities The Santa Fe Group hosted an educational conference on June 28, 2007, to discuss how best to meet the needs of the increasing elderly population and identify necessary actions to improve their oral health. Various field experts served as panelists and presented their information to the Santa Fe Group members and conference participants. The panel topics included:
The exchange of knowledge and shared experiences proved enlightening about the critical issue of meeting the oral health needs of the growing elderly population. For complete copies of presentations and papers from this conference, please visit publications on "Reports & Papers" page. 2007 SFG Conference Agenda 2007 Participant List ******************************************************* The Role of Family & Community in Children's Oral HealthIn June 2006, The Life of a Child: The Role of Family and Community in Children’s Oral Health was convened in Los Angeles, California by the Santa Fe Group and hosted by the University of Southern California School of Dentistry. Supported by an interested group of professional organizations and businesses, this conference was designed to widen the lens on children’s health disparities by engaging the broader range of biological, environmental, social and cultural determinants impacting children’s health and well-being, including their oral health. Specifically the purpose of this conference was to provide a scientific framework for children’s oral and general health that recognizes their direct relationship to the family and community environments, and to consider models for health promotion that build on community assets and social capital. The conference invited the interdisciplinary audience to participate in experiential learning at community sites that exposed them directly to factors contributing to health disparities. Children’s health outcomes result from the complex interaction of biologic determinants with sociocultural, family and community variables. Dental professional efforts to reduce oral health disparities often focus on improving access to dental care. However, this strategy alone cannot eliminate health disparities. Rising rates of early childhood caries create an urgent need to study family and community factors in oral health. Key conference themes and insights included: 1) children’s needs and societal priorities; 2) the science of child health determinants; 3) the rapidly changing demographics of the U.S.; and 4) the importance of communities that support children and families. To eliminate children’s oral health disparities we must change paradigms to promote health, integrate oral health into other health and social programs, and empower communities. Oral health advocates have a key role in ensuring oral health is integrated into policy for children. Dental schools have a leadership role to play in expanding community partnerships and providing education in health determinants. 2006 Conference Participants 2006 Conference Sponsors 2006 Conference Publications 2006 Conference Speaker Bios ******************************************************** The Need for Reform in Dental EducationIn August, 2004, Santa Fe Group convened a conference in San Francisco to explore what is widely perceived to be a crisis in American dental education and to plan strategies for transforming the system which trains the nation's oral health care professionals. The ultimate objective of the conveners is to stimulate reflective thought and action on the part of dental educators and others to produce oral health professionals better equipped to deal with the health care realities they will face in the future. Contemporary dental education remains rooted in training models developed nearly a century ago. Dental schools, in particular, struggle with curricula, enrollment practices, and faculty resources which are often poorly suited to deal with the needs of our rapidly changing society. Such factors as immigration, aging and associated chronic diseases, increasing disparity in health and access to care, and myriad others present significant challenges to dentistry today. At the same time, scientific advances in such fields as genomics, proteomics, pharmacotherapy, and systems biology are redefining the way disease is perceived, diagnosed, and treated. "How best to respond to these demands?" is the question facing dental educators today. To begin exploration of that question, Santa Fe Group invited more than 50 leaders from the academic, corporate, governmental, professional, and funding communities. Nine external sponsors joined Santa Fe Group in sponsoring the conference, including the Brasseler USA, Colgate, Delta Dental Plan of Massachusetts, the Dental Trade Alliance, DENTSPLY, International, GC America, Henry Schein, Inc., Patterson Dental, and Procter and Gamble. Working from the generally acknowledged premise that dental education must be transformed, participants joined in nearly two days of focused discussion to develop a series of short and long-term strategic actions which could significantly alter the course of dental education. Meeting at the newly designated Arthur A. Dugoni School of Dentistry at the University of the Pacific, Drs. Dominick DePaola and Hal Slavkin, both Santa Fe group members, set the context for the meeting with an overview of their white paper, "The Necessity for Reform in Dental Education." In addition, participants reviewed five topic areas from which models for dental education can be derived. Briefing papers and oral presentations on these models include: "Community-based education: a view from the trenches," Dr. Jack Dillenberg "The pipeline project and social engagement," Dr. Allan Formicola "Technology and distributed education," Mr. James Galbally "Corporate funding," Dr. Howard Landesman "Medical-dental models in dental education," Dr. David Nash Calling the conference the "beginning of a revolution from within," Santa Fe Group President, Dr. Lawrence Meskin explained that the organization wanted to act as a catalyst to influence change by providing a forum in which health care professionals, policy leaders, and decision-makers could come together in a neutral environment to share opinions freely, without concerns about institutional loyalties and constraints." Repeatedly, participants noted that oral health reports and educational commission studies consistently forewarned of the problems dentistry now faces. One such document is the Surgeon General's first report on Oral Health in America, published in 2000. This report spotlighted the growing crisis in oral health care and set forth a social rationale for the sorts of actions discussed in the San Francisco conference. Calling oral diseases a "silent epidemic," the Surgeon General's Report documented that oral and systemic health problems are often associated and that oral diseases and disorders can compromise health and well-being over a lifetime. The Report further concluded that solutions to these problems are hindered by issues involving oral health disparities, the relative inability of the public to benefit from scientific advances, the tenacity of barriers to care for growing segments of the population, and the erosion of the dental workforce by aging and retirements. Further exacerbating the situation is the fact that the current dental education system is threatened by escalating educational costs and mounting student indebtedness. Conference participants determined that the single most important factor responsible for the crisis in dental education is the "silo" approach so commonly found in health education. By their reliance on independent curricula, faculty, facilities, and research programs, "silos" contribute to the isolation of health professional training programs. A more effective outcome could be achieved, speakers hypothesized, if dentistry were integrated in a comprehensive, interdisciplinary health care education system. The Santa Fe Group conference is seen as an important first step in the journey toward a broad-based national effort to overhaul dental education. "The fact that 80 percent of dental disease occurs in 20 percent of the population, that 110 million Americans lack dental insurance, and that there is a growing shortage of dentists to treat the needs of certain populations - especially children - obligates us to move quickly toward reform," said Dr. Hal Slavkin, as he urged participants begin implementing change strategies in their home institutions and organizations. Eyes on the future, Slavkin and other Santa Fe Group members have articulated a vision for the goal of an "ideal" oral health education system:
The mission of the oral health education system of the United States is to serve society by educating and training a diverse workforce capable of meeting the Nation's need for oral health care. Members of this workforce should variously engage in clinical oral health care, public health practice, biomedical and health services research, education, and administration. Oral health professionals should also contribute to the fields of ethics, law, public policy, government, business, and journalism. The educational system will meet its unique responsibilities to educate and train highly competent clinical practitioners by ensuring that they acquire, and sustain throughout their careers, the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and values needed for practice within interdisciplinary health care teams. These skilled health care providers must have the ability to provide complex, integrative, high-quality care for patients, families, and communities. To do less is an abrogation of the professional covenant extended to dentistry by society. Oral Care Access Scholars ProgramIn conjunction with the Dental Trade Alliance, Santa Fe Group launched a new program in 2002 that focuses on increasing dental care access. Santa Fe Group is providing conceptual guidance and overall project management while the American Dental Trade Association is providing the "mission directive" and funding. Stemming from the latter organization's commitment to expanding health care access and improving dental productivity, a competitive "call for proposals" was published in 2002. This solicitation sought small-scale, but creative projects that would strike out in new directions to achieve broad, strategic improvements in oral health care and dental productivity. Funded projects and award recipients include the following: Amos Deinard, M.D., M.P.H., (University of Minnesota (Minnesota)) "Family Dental Project." This project will study ways to enhance dental knowledge and skills of pediatric medical team para-professionals so that these persons might more effectively educate parents and provide basic preventive services (topical fluoride, varnishes and sealants). Larry Domer, M.B.A., D.B.A. (University of Colorado) and Richard Call, D.M.D., M.S., (The Dental Center at Thornton Plaza (Colorado)): "A Pilot Study to Determine Barriers to Implementing Productivity Enhancement Strategies in Dental Practice." This project will identify barriers and modifiers that influence the implementation of productivity enhancements in dental practice. Steve Duffin, M.B.A., D.D.S. (Capitol Dental Care (Oregon)): "An examination of Current and Potential Roles for Expanded, Hybrid, and Mid-level Para-professional Practitioners." This project will assess the effects of para-professional scope of practice laws and rules on access to oral health care and explore expanded function programs for dental para-professionals. Michelle Henshaw, M.P.H., D.D.S. (Boston University (Massachusetts)) "Dental Action Literacy Project." This project involves the design of culturally relevant consumer oral health materials. Bernard Karshmer, M.B.A., Ph.D. (University of Colorado) and Richard Call, D.M.D., M.S., (The Dental Center at Thornton Plaza (Colorado)): "Examination of Alternative Forms of Dental Insurance on Inhibiting Access to Care." This project will evaluate patient usage patterns under different forms of dental insurance to determine the effects of plan design on access to care and identify what different plans might have significant differences in usage. Mildred McClain, Ph.D. (University of Nevada Las Vegas (Nevada)): "A Comparative 'Outcomes Assessment' of Selected Dental Practice Curricula to Develop Improved Instructional Materials for Dental Students and Practitioners." This project involves development and application of an evaluation method to assess the University of Nevada dental school practice management curricula and its impact on dental students. Initially, the test will be applied in Nevada, but it could be employed elsewhere. Shirley Miranda, B.D.S., C.A.G.S., M.S.D. and Lourdes Tellez (Community Voices (Texas)) The Role of Promotores in Accessing Existing Oral Health Services." This project focuses on several target border communities to develop bi-lingual resource materials, explore ways to improve access, and develop a network of culturally sensitive providers to deliver care. Richard Niederman, M.A., D.M.D. (The Forsyth Institute (Massachusetts)). "Implement a Primary Prevention Elementary School Program - Planning Grant." This project will develop a planning grant to develop an NIH funded clinical trial for the medical management of dental caries in three Boston area school districts, districts with over 70% of children participating in free-lunch programs. Ella Oong, M.P.H., D.M.D. (Montefiore Medical Center/Albert Einstein College of Medicine (New York)). "Cultural Materials - a Media Campaign Focused on Oral Cancer and Minority Populations." This project will develop a media campaign for the prevention and early detection of oral cancer for minority populations. Social marketing techniques will be used to leverage change in minority communities. Edward Rossomando, Ph.D., D.D.S. (University of Connecticut Health Center): "Feasibility Study of New Technology on Dental Office Productivity and Access." This project will evaluate the effect of new technology on the productivity of the dental office, with a particular focus on the access impact of technology as it frees up dental practitioner time.
Santa Fe Group SalonsFrom time to time Santa Fe Group convenes small groups of scholars, public policy makers, health professionals, and others sharing a common interest in the SFG mission for Salons. These events typically range in length from 1-3 days and provide an opportunity to participate in stimulating, informative, and wide-ranging discussions, to expand perspectives on critical health topics, and to formulate policy directives and programmatic initiatives. The organization's recent salon in San Francisco examining the need for reform in dental education is an example of one such activity. Corporate ServicesSanta Fe Group accepts a limited number of contractual agreements covering a wide range of services. Examples of services include, but are not limited to, research and public information program planning, dental school program review and evaluation (often in conjunction with the accreditation process), executive or administrative level recruitment, strategic planning for consumer advocacy groups, and planning and conducting salons on specific topics. Depending on the circumstances, such arrangements may be made individually with Santa Fe Group members or more formally through the organization. |
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