Achieving Oral Health Equity (AOHE)
The Tampa Bay Healthcare Collaborative (TBHC) is working towards significant systems and public policy change around oral health through the “Achieving Oral Health Equity in Tampa Bay (AOHE) Initiative”. AOHE is part of the Oral Health (OH) 2020 Network – a national effort to improve the oral health of all.
The Achieving Oral Health Equity in Tampa Bay (AOHE) Initiative focuses on developing community collaborations and building community capacity to increase awareness of the importance of oral health to overall health and wellness. As part of this effort, the AOHE Initiative is working to understand public perceptions of oral health, advocate to reduce oral health disparities, and improve oral health outcomes across the lifespan. This work has been centered on community surveys in Wimauma, an interdisciplinary toolkit for non-oral health providers, grassroots activism, as well as other projects in the making.
Priorities
- Engage a network of community stakeholders committed to achieving oral health equity
- Promote interdisciplinary collaborations between oral health and non-oral health providers
- Conduct a regional community assessment regarding oral health and identify gaps
- Leverage opportunities to increase access to oral and dental care
- Promote and improve the public perception on the value of good oral health
- Enhance advocacy capacity of residents to share their story
Campaign for Oral Health
For the first time The Florida Oral Health Alignment Network has begun a campaign for oral health called Head to Feet.
The goal of this campaign is to collect stories about oral healthcare inequities and how we can work together to ensure that everyone can achieve optimal oral health.
Share the campaign on your social media platforms using their messaging guide!
Re-Framing Oral Health
FrameWorks has recently developed a Strategic Framing Guide to shape public perceptions of oral health to be seen as a part of overall health. These strategic framing recommendations focus on the overall message, the target audience’s values, responsibility of the community, and systematic thinking of oral health to shift perceptions of oral health.