Virginia Oral Health Plan
The Virginia Oral Health Plan is the centerpiece of the Coalition’s advocacy efforts. It identifies 19 objectives which utilize public policy change, public awareness campaigns and new programs to improve oral health access and demonstrate the correlation of oral health and overall health.
Oral Health Plan Development
The process began at the Oral Health Summit in 2009 when close to 100 stakeholders from throughout the Commonwealth worked in breakout sessions by population to begin to identify the goals and objectives which would become the plan’s foundation. Objectives were developed using the framework outlined in “Oral Health in America: A Report of the Surgeon General,” to:
- Change perceptions of oral health through education, outreach and advocacy
- Remove barriers between people and oral health services through policy change, public/private partnerships and the creation of innovative programs
- Build an effective oral health infrastructure by ensuring that dental providers, both now and in the future, are prepared to meet the needs of Virginia’s underserved.
After the summit, coalition workgroup members synthesized the recommendations from the summit and created workplans associated with each item. The objectives were approved unanimously by the Virginia Oral Health Coalition board of directors on March 2, 2010. Workgroup members remain busy working to implement action steps related to many of the objectives. In the coming months a white paper will be released detailing the status of oral health in Virginia and providing additional context for the recommendations.
For more information, or to participate in a workgroup, please contact Sarah Holland.
