title: Implementation and dissemination of the Sikh American Families Oral Health Promotion Program.
abstract: The Sikh American Families Oral Health Promotion Program used a community-based participatory approach to develop, implement, evaluate, and disseminate a culturally tailored oral health/healthy living curriculum for the Sikh-South Asian community. Here, we examine the impact of community engagement throughout the process of program implementation in five Gurdwaras (places of worship) in New York and New Jersey and dissemination of the findings through targeted venues and the curriculum via e-Health resources. An interactive curriculum was developed (consisting of four core and three special topics) based upon a community-led needs assessment, adaptation of evidence-based oral health curricula, guidance from professional dental and medical associations, and input from Community Advisory Board (CAB) members. The Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research guided a mixed-method evaluation, consisting of both process and outcome measures. Five trained community educators delivered a total of 42 educational sessions. Improved oral hygiene behaviors and self-efficacy were found among program participants. For participants with no dental insurance prior to program enrollment (n = 58), 81.0% credited the program with helping them obtain insurance for themselves or their children. Further, for participants with no dentist prior to program enrollment (n = 68), 92.6% credited the program with helping them or their children find a local dentist. Short videos in Punjabi were created in response to feedback received from community educators and CAB members to reach men, especially. Community engagement was key to successful program implementation and dissemination, from the implementation leaders (community educators) to the opinion leaders and champions (CAB members).
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Health Promotion, New York University College of Dentistry, 433 First Avenue, 7th Floor, Room 726, New York, NY, 10010, USA. men6@nyu.edu.
authors.forename: Mary E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Northridge
authors.affiliation: UNITED SIKHS, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Rucha
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kavathe
authors.affiliation: Department of Population Health, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zanowiak
authors.affiliation: Department of Population Health, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wyatt
authors.affiliation: UNITED SIKHS, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Hardayal
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.affiliation: Department of Population Health, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Nadia
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Islam
mesh_terms: D001213:Asian; D003256:Community Participation / Q000379:methods; D003479:Curriculum; D005246:Feedback; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006284:Health Plan Implementation; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D007347:Insurance, Dental; D007802:Language; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009909:Oral Health / Q000193:education / Q000208:ethnology*; D016730:Program Development; D015397:Program Evaluation; D036301:Qualitative Research; D012068:Religion and Medicine; D057566:Self Report; D017216:Telemedicine / Q000379:methods; D014481:United States
keywords: Asian American health; Community educators; Community-based participatory research; Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research; Implementation science; Oral health equity