Phase 4. Generate Interest at the Grass Roots
IOH Toolkit
Chapter 3. Create Awareness and Secure Support
Phase 4. Grass-Roots Awareness Efforts
Lasting change begins with tomorrow’s professionals. In addition to institution-wide events an effective awareness campaign must target student populations. Creating awareness of the importance of oral health and engaging students in elective interprofessional activities will generate grass-roots demand for more interprofessional opportunities as well as a desire to see oral health content in relevant coursework.
Take part in your college’s or university’s health fair. Most universities and colleges hold a health fair at least once a year. Take advantage of this opportunity to provide information about oral health and disease prevention.
Interactive ideas for engaging students include:
- Conducting oral examinations
- Demonstrating oral cancer screening
- Hosting quizzes to earn free prizes (e.g., toothbrush, floss, toothpaste, or sugar-free gum)
Partner with campus-based student clubs and organizations. Relevant organizations include premed or predental student groups, health-equity and other health-related clubs, and campus-housing and residence-life organizations. With these connections in place, you can look for areas of overlap between your initiative and the activities these groups already have planned. Student leadership for oral health integration may evolve from these partnerships.
Reach out to Living Learning Communities (LLCs). An LLC is a group of students who choose to live in the same residence because of a common major, interest, or program affiliation. Contact a residence advisor within the LLC you are targeting to discuss ideas for planning an interprofessional event focused on oral health.
Events might include:
- Trivia games
- A movie screening
- A talk on a topic related to local or global health
- An oral health booth where you work with LLC members to provide educational materials and supplies such as toothbrushes, toothpaste, and floss to other students on campus
Utilize news outlets. Institutional news circuits can reach hundreds, if not thousands, of students, faculty, staff, and alumni. Locate these resources and provide monthly or quarterly contributions to highlight faculty and student achievements in oral health. You can also create and deliver your own newsletter. Oral Health Connect provides a monthly snapshot of IOH activities.
Join other institution-wide events. Identify well-advertised institutional events that can help you showcase oral health. Tap student volunteers to staff these events.
Use social media. Social media can be an effective way to reach a large number of students. To start, keep it simple. Choose one or two popular platforms and combine original content with content reposted from other individuals and organizations that share your goals. Create conversational and friendly messages that promote events, share news, discuss activities, or mention the work of others. Set weekly or biweekly goals for the number of messages posted. Be sure to establish social media accounts that are specific to your initiative and separate from your personal accounts so there is no confusion about the source of the messages.
IOH at Northeastern University (NEU)
NEU hosted an event for more than 2,000 students, faculty, alumni, and friends over a two-day period to celebrate the university’s advancement in education and research. IOH took advantage of this opportunity by hosting an oral health exhibition where oral health professionals taught students how to conduct oral health screenings. They also provided visitors with oral health educational information and counseled them about healthy personal behaviors. Adult and child toothbrushes, toothpaste, floss, and pamphlets were distributed.
First Published: 9/2015
Last updated: 03/2016