Public health dentists offer recommendations to better integrate oral health and primary care

In practice, policy and education, oral health care and primary health care have traditionally been considered separate. In an effort to change that, a group of public health dentists has issued recommendations on improving the integration of the two with a goal to influence policymakers, clinicians, educators and health researchers.In apaper, commissioned by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine ’s Roundtable on Health Literacy, experts found that additional work is needed to integrate primary care and oral health to provide more comprehensive and improved access to care.The authors, from theUCLA School of Dentistry and the University of North Carolina, also found that the amount of time devoted to oral health in health-professional training programs remains low and topics are limited.“One of the biggest takeaways from our analysis was that the integration of primary care and oral health care is still in its early stages — with little guidance and support from professional associations, governing bodies and policymakers,” said the lead co-author, Dr. Kathryn Atchison, profe ssor of public health at the UCLA School of Dentistry and the Fielding School of Public Health. “We see this report as a blueprint for policymakers to better understand what is needed to best serve the public in the rapidly changing health care delivery system.”The report outlines 21 recommendations, including:Applying a comprehensive framework that includes integration ...
Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences - Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news