Integrating Oral Health and Person-Centered Care: Innovations in Oral Health Toolkit Launch Event

Pictured above (from left):
Dr. Hugh Silk, Professor in Family Medicine and Community Health, UMASS Medical School; Brian Souza, Vice President of Strategy and Operations for the DentaQuest Foundation; Dr. Maria Dolce, Associate Professor, Stony Brook University, School of Nursing; Jessica Holloman, Program Director, Northeastern University, School of Nursing.

May 24, 2016, Boston, Mass. – Last week, a distinguished group of scholars and community partners gathered at the Liberty Hotel in Boston, MA to celebrate the launch of Northeastern University’s Innovations in Oral Health (IOH) Toolkit. The IOH Toolkit represents the culmination of a three-year program, Innovations in Oral Health, a national model integrating oral health across interdisciplinary health sciences curricula.  The goal of this toolkit is prepare health professionals with the competencies to integrate oral health as an essential component of comprehensive, person-centered health care.  This program was made possible through the generous support of the DentaQuest Foundation.  We were honored to introduce a very special guest, Brian Souza, Vice President of Strategy and Operations for the DentaQuest Foundation. Brian is a collaborative leader in advancing oral health and brings his passion for health care, philanthropy, and systems transformation to oral disease and oral health disparities.  His opening remarks highlighted how the IOH Toolkit aligns with the DentaQuest Foundation’s vision to eradicate dental disease in children and improve lifelong oral health. Keynote speaker Dr. Hugh Silk, Professor in Family  Medicine and Community Health, UMASS Medical School, addressed ways that academic and practice communities can leverage the resources offered in the IOH Toolkit to advance oral health integration and collaborative practice. Dr. Silk concluded by challenging the audience to continue this important collaboration and build upon our successes as we transform health care education and practice.

We wish to express our sincere gratitude to the DentaQuest Foundation for their generous support and, importantly for their transformational leadership in advancing oral health in America.

For more information, please contact: Dr. Maria C. Dolce, Associate Professor, Stony Brook University, School of Nursing, maria.dolce@stonybrook.edu & Jessica Holloman, Program Director
Northeastern University, School of Nursing,  j.holloman@neu.edu