Project Title: Massachusetts Project PRIDE (Promoting Remote Initiatives for Dental Engagement) Applicant Organization Name: Massachusetts Department of Public Health Address: 250 Washington Street, Boston MA 02108 Project Director Name: Dr. Matthew Horan, Dental Director, MDPH Contact Phone Numbers (Voice, Fax): Phone: 617-624-5943, Fax: 617-624-6062 E-mail address: matthew.horan@mass.gov Website Address: https://www.mass.gov/orgs/department-of-public-health Grant program funds requested in the application: $400,000/grant year Brief description: The overall purpose of Massachusetts Project PRIDE – Promoting Remote Initiatives for Dental Engagement – is to address oral health workforce and access gaps in Dental HPSAs by establishing innovative portable dental programs with teledentistry capacity operating from two community health programs in Massachusetts. The project’s focus is on auto-designated Dental HPSAs, including a federally qualified health center and a tribal health clinic, where there is limited access to oral health care for children, adults, or seniors. The proposed program is designed to increase the accessibility and scope of oral health services within Dental HPSAs without the typical brick and mortar physical expansion. The initial target population will include people who live in the largely rural Franklin County in the northwestern part of the state (especially low-income people, and migrant farm workers in the region) and Native Americans on tribal land in Eastern Massachusetts. To support these activities, MDPH will conduct ongoing program evaluation, provide technical assistance, and conduct plan-do-study-act (PDSA) cycles of improvement as necessary. We will use what we learn from this project to identify best practices and develop and disseminate an implementation template that can be adopted by community health programs to serve other Dental HPSAs and high need communities in the state—including those who are urban, r
ural, low-income, Black or Latinx. Project methods and results will be shared with key stakeholders and decision-makers within the state. By the end of the project period, we expect to have demonstrated sustainable and innovative methods to improve dental access for a range of populations who currently lack equitable access to oral health services.