New Mexico community voices: policy reform to reduce oral health disparities.
Using a socio-ecological framework to guide the initiative, New Mexico Community Voices developed, with state and local stakeholders, responsive oral health policies to address oral health disparities. Several policy objectives were achieved: increasing awareness of the public health importance of oral health; improving access to dental services for uninsured or underserved populations; enhancing dental services specialty care; and increasing sustainable oral health infrastructure through pipeline development of oral health providers to relieve service shortages and diversify the oral health workforce. Improving access to oral health and augmenting numbers of dental providers in rural areas were also successful. The governor has appointed the New Mexico Oral Health Advisory Council to address state oral health issues. The New Mexico partnerships have demonstrated how effective policy change can generate important incremental shifts in oral health care delivery and provide best practice models that diminish the oral health crisis faced by underserved populations.
Powell
Wayne
W
Center for Community Partnership, Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of New Mexico, USA. wpowell@salud.unm.edu
Hollis
Christine
C
de la Rosa
Mario
M
Helitzer
Deborah L
DL
Derksen
Daniel
D
D003149:Community Dentistry; D018672:Community Health Planning / Q000458:organization & administration*; D003256:Community Participation; D018166:Health Care Reform; D006291:Health Policy; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006801:Humans; D007198:Indians, North American; D008507:Medically Underserved Area; D017057:Medically Uninsured; D009516:New Mexico; D019035:Rural Health Services; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013221:State Health Plans; D014481:United States; D035862:Vulnerable Populations / Q000208:ethnology*