Worldental Daily New Delhi, 12 September 2014

News Friday, 12 September 2014 F DI has just issued its eagerly- awaitedpreliminaryreport‘Opti- mal Oral Health through Inter- ProfessionalEducationandCollabora- tivePractice’.Itistheresultofworkcar- ried out by a specialTaskTeam set-up in2013anddrawsinspirationfromFDI Vision 2020 and several subsequent expertconsultations. AccordingtotheWorldHealthOrgan- ization (WHO), “collaborative practice (CP) happens when multiple health workers from different professional backgrounds work together with pa- tients, families, carers and communi- ties to deliver the highest quality care.” It can mean intra-professional collaboration, for example among membersoftheoralhealthcareteam, and inter-professional collaboration between different medical profes- sions. In support of CP, Inter-profes- sional Education (IPE) is an essential toolforenablingstudentsfromtwoor moreprofessionsinhealthandsocial care to learn together during all or part of their professional training, and thereby integrate a CP-oriented healthcare culture. CP and IPE are not end goals. They arearesponsetoanewhealthcareen- vironmentcharacterizedbychangesin disease patterns, access to care is- sues, and the challenge of catering to the requirements of ageing popula- tions. They are strategies to improve accesstocare,enhanceefficiencyand quality,andreducecosts. For example, a recent report by theAmericanDentalAssociationand published in the American Journal of Public Health has estimated that screenings by dentists for the most common chronic medical diseases could save the American health care systemasmuchasUS$102.6million annually, with healthier outcomes forpatients.Inpracticalterms,theCP should encourage a move from cure to patient-centred care. Although dentists have already made great strides forward, the new CP report will undoubtedly have repercussionsfortheprofession.FDI is of the view that, on issues of col- laboration to advance oral health and contribute to the improvement of general health and quality of life, dentists, as front-line medical pro- fessionals in the prevention, early detection and treatment of oral and systemic diseases, should play a leadership role. Theprofessionshouldthereforebe part of the political dialogue at a na- tional and global level and recognized as a driving force behind the develop- ment of CP competencies and imple- mentationofanyCPmodel. A review of CP literature indicates thatcollaborativepracticemodels,intro- duced within a variety of contexts, have the primary objective of improving dif- ferentaspectsofhealthcaredelivery:in- creasing access and quality, lowering costs,andimprovingpracticeproductiv- ity and efficiency as well as clinical out- comesandpatientsatisfaction. The recently-issued FDI report has assembled examples of collaborative practice from around the world, repro- ducedwithoutcommentorvaluejudge- ment: there is no one-size-fits-all solu- tion, and models are appropriate or not accordingtonationalcontext. Together,thismaterialshouldserve toexpandthedialogueonintra-andin- ter-professional collaborative practice and inter-professional education, and facilitate the policy and advocacy work undertakenbyNationalDentalAssocia- tions (NDAs) for the planning of the fu- ture oral health workforce (OHWF). It will thereby enhance the ability of the dental profession to lead change rather thanhavesolutionsimposed. TheworkFDIisundertakingincol- laborativepracticewillsecuretherole and relevance of the dental profes- sionwithinthehealthcaresystemnot onlynow,but10,even20,yearsdown the line. NewreporttohelpintegrateaCP-oriented healthcarecultureinprofessionaldentaltraining IByProfNerminYamalikandDrWardVanDijk, co-Chairs,FDITaskTeamonCollaborativePractice 4 www.fdiworldental.org for global oral health The FDI Data Hub for global oral health is a Vision 2020 project supported by: DATAHUB STRATEGY STRATEGY STRATEGY ANALYSIS ANALYSIS ANALYSIS PLANNING PLANNING EVALUATION ALUATION EVALUATION MISSION M ON MISS MISSION MISSION GOALS GOA GO SOCIAL SOCIAL GOALS SOCIAL IDEAS IDEAS ORGANIZING ORGANIZING O ANIZING ORGANIZING PLANNING PLANNING IDEAS IDEAS IDEAS IDEAS ZING INNOVATION INNOV DENTISTRY DENTIS DENT DEN SUCCESS VISION SION SUCCE ORAL HEALTH ORAL HEALTH ORAL HE TEAMWORK AMWORK GENERAL HEALTH IMPLEMENTATION DEVELOPMEN PROGRESS NCDs NCDs N AD Childrenbrush twiceadayfor brightersmiles T he Dental Association of Thailand joined forces with Close Up, within the global Live.Learn.Laugh (LLL) Phase 2 part- nership between the FDI and Unilever, to implement an oral health project to educatechildren,parentsandteachers in rural areas about the importance of brushing twice daily with fluoride toothpaste. Today, Thai children have better oral health than they did in the past. However, socioeconomic inequalities persistandtheymostlyaffectchildren living in rural areas. To improve oral health standards, the LLLThai project “Brush Twice Bright Smiles” focused on promoting oral health by address- ing public policy, creating supportive environments for children at school, anddevelopinglong-lastinghabitsfor good oral hygiene. It also aimed to strengthen community action and re- orienthealthservicestofocusmoreon oral health promotion and prevention strategies. The project successfully incorpo- rated oral care into the health educa- tion lessons of primary school chil- dren.Italsodisseminatededucational materials amongst children, teachers and parents, including promotional materials to be used in schools. The project’s ultimate goal was to use the classroom environment to monitor children’s oral care habits and have a positive impact on their behavior, so thattheybrushtheirteethtwicedaily. The FDI and Unilever will continue to report on the progress and accom- plishments of their LLL partnership and oral health promotion efforts aroundtheworldatnextyear’sAnnual World Dental Congress in Bangkok, Thailand. MonicaCarlile&DrsVirginieHorn,LLLPartnershipLeaders ISuccessfulincorporationoforalcareintothehealth educationlessonsofprimaryschoolchildreninThailand

Worldental Daily New Delhi, 12 September 2014

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