Chapter 3. Create Awareness and Secure Support

Phase 1. Identify and Engage Leaders

If you are interested in large-scale change, such as the integration of oral health across all nursing programs, you will need to create a leadership infrastructure to support and guide your endeavor. This infrastructure might include several teams or committees from internal and external communities of interest. Members should represent multiple levels of leadership, including administrators, faculty, and students. Together, members will advise on the planning, implementation, and evaluation of oral health integration activities.

Steps to building your leadership team

Practice your “elevator speech.” This 20-30 second pitch should describe and spark interest in your project.

Prepare talking points. Outline how and why oral health can be a driver for interprofessional education activities.

Lay the groundwork for communication. Identify the communication channels you will use to keep in touch with those who show interest. Establish an email list, set up a website, or use such social media platforms as Facebook and Twitter.

Identify natural allies. Reach out to faculty who are already engaged in interprofessional activities.

Seek out faculty champions. Look for faculty who are already incorporating oral health into their courses.

Host a meeting to gauge interest. Use this opportunity to probe the ways oral health integration might serve potential collaborators.

Keep oral health integration on the agenda. Request that oral health integration become a standing item at faculty and curriculum meetings.

Create an advisory council. Choose faculty with experience in interprofessional education and consult with them regularly.

Look for collaborators. Identify outside organizations that share your goals and can contribute to your initiative. Take an inclusive approach to building your external network. By reaching out broadly—to ALL local health professions schools, public health entities, hospitals, and community providers—you may net supporters not currently known to be allies.