Bouvé College of Health Sciences at Northeastern University receives grant from DentaQuest
Maria Dolce, an associate professor of nursing in the Bouvé College of Health Sciences, learned the importance of improving patient outcomes through team-based care by treating the critically ill for some three decades. “Physicians, nurses, and other health professionals working together, valuing the interprofessional relationships, collaborations, and teamwork—that’s the environment that I grew up in as a new nurse,” said professor Dolce.
So when she heard a story from a cancer patient—one of nearly 500 she was analyzing for her doctoral research—Dolce was astonished: “I had been to the dentist twice with bleeding/swollen gums, and had been to the doctor once with various other symptoms—bruising, persistent cough, a cut that wouldn’t heal,” the patient wrote. “Neither one of these healthcare providers connected the dots or even suggested a blood test.”
For Dolce, this story highlighted two major gaps in the field: educating health professionals about the important relationship between oral and systemic health, and designing integration models of primary care that promote interprofessional collaboration and communication between primary care providers and dentists. This story also illustrated how the mouth is a “mirror” reflecting health and disease in the rest of the body.
Backed by a grant from the DentaQuest Foundation, Dolce is now bridging these gaps with the development of a unique interprofessional educational program called Innovations in Interprofessional Oral Health Care: Technology, Instruction, Practice, and Service, or TIPS. Dolce said the TIPS program would be formally launched on Sept. 9 at Northeastern University in Boston.
The program—which aligns with Northeastern’s focus on solving the world’s most complex problems, particularly in the areas of health, security, and sustainability—is part of the university’s broader commitment to improving health through interdisciplinary collaborations and partnerships.
“We are very pleased to partner with the DentaQuest Foundation to create a national model for interprofessional education to advance oral healthcare,” said Dolce, whose program will impact both classroom and experiential learning.
TIPS will integrate Smiles for Life, the nation's only comprehensive oral health curriculum, intohealth education across professions as well as implement a team-based, collaborative practice model in primary care settings to promote oral health and prevent disease. Over the long-term, Dolce hopes to disseminate the TIPSprogram to academic centers and primary care practices across the country.
She also said the program would seek collaboration with dental groups too. "TIPS program will engage dental professionals in the design, implementation, and evaluation of innovations in team-based oral health care," Dolce said. "Collaborations will include schools of dental medicine and dental hygiene, including Harvard School of Dental Medicine, Tufts University of Dental Medicine, Boston University Henry M. Goldman School of Dental Medicine, and the dental associations throughout New England, including the Massachusetts Dental Society. Influential leaders representing dental education, practice and research are invited to join the conversation about advancing oral health particularly for our most vulnerable and underserved populations."
From the beginning, TIPS will aim to fundamentally change the landscape of oral health care by preparing the next generation of healthcare professionals ready to integrate oral health and primary care. “Cultivating students’ collaborative leadership will be a key driver of change,” said Dolce. “Engaging and empowering students to learn about, from and with each other will drive our interprofessional education model and innovations in oral health care.”
“Preparing health professionals with team-based competencies in oral health promotion and disease prevention, and shifting from educating health professionals separately to interprofessional education are imperatives for improving oral health in America,” added Terry Fulmer, dean of Bouvé. “We are excited that Bouvé College will be joining a national movement to put oral health into primary care education and practice under the umbrella of the National Interprofessional Initiative on Oral Health” (www.niioh.org).
According to Dolce, the “silent epidemic” of oral diseases is one of healthcare’s greatest challenges. Each year, oral diseases affect millions of children and adults, most of them from the nation’s most vulnerable populations: poor children, pregnant women, older adults, individuals with special health care needs, and racial and ethnic minorities.
Nonetheless, dental disease is very preventable, said Ralph Fuccillo, chief mission officer of DentaQuest and president of the DentaQuest Foundation. “A primary care clinician may be the first and sometimes only health professional to evaluate the oral health of some people. The work of professor Dolce and her Northeastern University colleagues is expanding the role that the health team has to improve oral health,” he explained. “That’s thousands of new eyes ready to identify and help individuals who are at risk for dental disease.”
Dolce added the TIPS program would incorporate a referral system to dental professions. "The TIPS program will educate health professionals about the oral-systemic connection and the medical-dental interface. Essential competencies to promote optimal oral health include making a referral to a dental professional," she said. "This competency will be developed within the context of interprofessional communication, teamwork, and collaborative practice to improve patient and population oral health."
