Exploring Oral Health Experiences for People with SMI and Developing Stakeholder-Informed Guidelines and Training - Rutgers University will develop guidelines and training for creating positive experiences in oral care for people with severe mental illness (SMI) (PEOC) based on input from and collaboration with people with SMI, advisors, and other stakeholders in this three-year project. Project goals are to 1) develop PEOC guidelines to inform training and resources for both oral health professionals and people with SMI and 2) create sustainable training and resources on facilitating PEOC for people with SMI and oral health professionals, which is framed by principles of trauma-informed care. Our objectives include: 1) Conducting interviews with 25 people with SMI to understand their oral care experience, identify their recommendations and develop preliminary PEOC guidelines, 2) Conducting a Delphi Study with 20 stakeholders (e.g., oral health professionals, mental health professionals, and people with SMI) to identify the importance and feasibility of preliminary PEOC guidelines 3) Develop and pilot education and resources for oral health professionals, 4) Create and pilot resources and tools to build PEOC for people with SMI. The project outcomes are 1) the creation of stakeholder-informed guidelines for PEOC, 2) a sustainable training mechanism for oral health providers based on the guidelines; and (3) tools to create self-defined PEOC (e.g., advocacy, empowerment, and self-management) for people with SMI. Products include 1) Stakeholder-informed guidelines for creating PEOC, 2) online training, education, and microcredentialing for oral health professionals and students on creating PEOC 3) Tools and resources for people with SMI to create PEOC informed by the guidelines; 4) Project webpage; 5) publications and 6) presentations at oral and mental health conferences.
