Project Title: Alaska Oral Health Workforce Development and Access to Care Activities Applicant Organization Name: State of Alaska (SOA) Address: 3601 C Street, Suite 322, Anchorage, Alaska 99503 Project Director Name: Frances Wise, PhD Contact Phone Number: Frances Wise, office 907-269-7378, and teleworking cell 210-571-4689 Email Address: Frances Wise, frances.wise@alaska.gov Website Address: SOA’s website: http://alaska.gov Grant Funds Requested: $1,600,000 Alaska presents unique challenges in access to and delivery of dental healthcare services; most notably because of the state’s vast size, geographic isolation of communities, and high number of Dental Health Provider Shortage Areas (HPSAs). These equity factors impact resource availability, retention, and delivery of dental care throughout our state and create significant oral health disparities for Alaskans. Additionally, the COVID-19 pandemic continues to highly impact routine and preventative healthcare, Public Health priorities, and capacity in the state. The State of Alaska oral health program aims to support the state’s oral health workforce capacity development, increase recruitment and retention efforts in the state for licensed and unlicensed professionals, and leverage data surveillance to inform decision making and program development. The projects in this application propose to expand the oral health workforce, services, and outcomes for the highest need communities and populations within targeted HPSAs in Alaska. We propose to do this through partnership with non-profit community leader Christian Health Associates’ (CHA) innovative access to care programs to a) develop and implement an innovative and unique new program promoting, tracking, and reporting sealant services provided in two Alaskan HPSAs and b) significantly change and enhance the scope, reach, focus, and engagement of two access to care programs pioneering a rapid expansion of unique service delivery systems to
the state’s vulnerable populations. Additionally, this proposal’s aim is to augment the State dental office to coordinate sustainable data surveillance, workforce development, and evaluation/ reporting via contract with a professional data and systems development consultant and licensed dental professional (Dental Consultant). These activities will proceed with consideration to COVID-19 pandemic recovery rates and mitigation factors, which have affected and continue to impact education, recruitment, and service delivery components of this program and other oral health programs nationally. The Dental Consultant will provide State level dental expertise to inform Medicaid dental issues, develop an Oral Health Action Plan for Alaska based on state priorities, lead the Alaska Dental Action Coalition, mobilize community partners to leverage resources for oral health, inform state policy, and advocate for programs and policies to enhance the recruitment and retention of oral health professionals in Alaska. The Dental Consultant and the Alaska oral health program manager/Project Director will aim to improve and sustain these programs’ impact through systematic evaluation and partner engagement. The Alaska oral health program proposes to proceed in these aims through a lens of health equity and in partnership with Alaska community leaders in oral and public health. Anticipated outcomes include increased access to dental services in the Municipality of Anchorage and the Matanuska-Susitna Valley Borough, Dental HPSAs with an approximate population of 398,502; particularly for low-income uninsured adults and families. A further goal of the project is development of a state plan of action, and progress in key activities addressing the dental workforce capacity in Alaska. These efforts will be evaluated for sustainability, feasibility, and success and progress will be reported to HRSA throughout the duration of the project