New Resources
New Policy and Strategy Brief and Companion Guide Help Health Centers Leverage State Policies to Train, Secure and Maximize Oral Health Workforce
Oral health is essential for cardiovascular health, gut health, brain health, healthy pregnancy, and diabetes prevention. Yet, dental care is out of reach for too many Americans. To expand access to dental care and reduce oral health disparities, it is critical to expand the dental workforce.
The newly released State Policies & Strategies Brief: Strengthen & Expand the Dental Workforce in Health Centers and its companion guide can help health centers grow their dental workforce and improve oral health equity. These resources show how health centers and primary care associations can leverage state policies to train, secure, and maximize the oral health workforce. The policy brief and companion guide feature eleven “Shining Star Examples” illustrating steps to:
- Train the next generation of dental professionals
- Secure/retain a wider range of dental staff to deliver high quality dental services, and
- Maximize skills so every dental staff member can train for higher licensure or work at the top of their license to expand access.
State policy can significantly impact dental workforce development through strategies designed to train, secure, and maximize the dental workforce in health centers.
Health centers should be aware of state policies and strategies that exist and identify related opportunities for funding. Health centers can advocate for similar policies within their state. In this guide, you will find a description of state policies and strategies that can support the growth of programs to train, secure, and maximize opportunities for the dental workforce in health centers, including practical recommendations for health centers to “take action.” Eleven “Shining Star” case examples, presented at the end of the guide, illustrate how health centers across the nation have used a variety of the state policies and strategies featured in this guide to improve access to high-quality dental care for underserved patients.
For more information, download the complete Implementation Guide or the 11 Shining Stars case examples above, which illustrate how health centers across the nation have utilized various state policies and strategies from this guide to enhance access to care.
Authors
This report, including the concepts and research findings presented herein, was authored by Hannah Maxey, PhD, MPH, RDH, and Courtney Medlock, MPH, in partnership with NACHC and participating Community Health Centers, and with funding from CareQuest Institute for Oral Health. Dr. Maxey, Associate Professor of Family Medicine and Director of the Bowen Center for Health Workforce Research & Policy (Bowen Center) at Indiana University, is a state health workforce policy expert and advocate for community health centers. Courtney Medlock is a health policy consultant with nationally recognized expertise in the health workforce.
