You've Been to the Forum (or Read About It): Now What?

By Robin Brocato

As the planning committee for the Head Start and Partners Forum on Oral Health met, one topic of discussion was what follow-up activities would take place after the Forum. Planning committee members envisioned the Forum being replicated on a regional, state, and local level, and in fact, this has taken place in several regions and states (see articles on pages 22 through 26 about some of these events). While we know that no community or state is exactly alike, and no forum will replicate the September 99 Forum, here are some steps that you can take to get your community or state more involved in oral health–

• Contact your Administration on Children and Families Regional Office. They may already be working in partnership with the regional HCFA or HRSA office. They may be able to assist you in identifying regional, state, and local resources, or may be able to share what other Head Start programs in your region are doing to improve access to oral health services.
  
• Contact your Regional Quality Improvement Center Health Specialist. The QIC health specialists have been working on this issue for many years. They can identify state and local resources and contact persons, and can provide technical assistance as needed. They also have a limited supply of oral health buttons and posters they can send you in support of local and state oral health activities.
  
• Contact your State Collaboration Office. Many of the state collaboration offices are working on health issues such as improving access to care or Medicaid/SCHIP outreach. Ask them if they have information about state interest in or activity on oral health. They may also have names of state or local contact persons from HCFA, HRSA, or WIC.
  
• Take this opportunity to revisit formal and informal community partnerships. If you have an existing interagency agreement (state or local) with either WIC or HCFA (Medicaid), look over the agreement to see if it is broad enough to cover oral health, or think about how it could be revised to do so. If you rely on informal partnerships with your local health department or other community health providers (such as a managed care organization), think about the pros and cons of formalizing the partnership.
  
• Involve your Health Services Advisory Committee. Recruit a dentist or dentists to serve on your HSAC! Provide copies of the papers presented at the Forum to your HSAC (for information on how to get copies of the papers, see page 44) and ask them to help develop a plan to implement some or all of the recommendations. They may also be helpful in contacting state dental schools to ask them to get more involved with Head Start.
  
• Let technology work for you. In this issue of the Bulletin, several resources are presented. Visit the Head Start Oral Health Virtual Resource Guide at: www.hs-kids.tmsc.org (see page 40 for a description of the guide). Ask your HSAC for assistance in deciphering the vast information available on the Internet, keeping in mind that the source and quality of the information is very important. Download pamphlets, fact sheets, and articles from reputable sites; copy them and give them to parents.
  
• Speaking of parents, do not forget the Policy Council! Copy some of the articles in this issue of the Bulletin, provide parents with copies of the papers, or view the actual videos from the Oral Health Forum. Have a parent meeting dedicated to the topic of oral health. Invite health staff, HSAC members, and community providers to watch the videos or discuss the Forum papers and this issue of the Bulletin.
  

Robin Brocato is a Head Start Health Specialist, Head Start Bureau, T: 202-205-9903; E: rbrocato@acf.hhs.

Visit the ACF Head Start Website at: www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/hsb for information on how to reach your Regional Office, QIC, or State Colloboration Office.

By Sue Wilson
Head Start Fellow, Class of 2000

Forum participants gave useful suggestions for how to make the most of your Health Services Advisory Committees (HSAC)–

HSAC members can be important resources for programs–

• Include a dentist on the Health Services Advisory Committee
  
• Involve Medicaid consultants on the HSAC

Finding dentists to serve on your HSAC can be challenging–

• Look for retired dentists and pediatric dentists
  
• Approach dental societies, Kiwanis or Rotary Clubs, American Academy of Pediatrics, Healthy Child Care America, and health consultants for suggestions

The HSAC can play an important role in implementing the recommendations in the Forum's papers–

• Use the HSAC to sort through the research and information received from experts before implementation
  
• Ask the HSAC for advice and assistance on incorporating realistic activities
  
• Ask the HSAC for technical advice such as–
  • Whether chlorhexidine is useful for children,
  • If Head Starts can request the dental history of mothers, and
  • If programs should encourage applying varnishes twice each year.