During National Minority Health
Month, we’re calling attention to barriers many people must overcome to
enjoy their best health, and the advocates who help them.
One of our jobs as a leading health care
organization is to help people understand what they need to do to stay healthy –
and that starts with literacy.
Literacy
skills are one of the strongest predictors of oral health status – stronger
than age, income, employment status, education level, or racial/ethnic group. It is estimated that at least a third of
adults in the United States have limited health literacy and nearly half of all American adults - 90
million people - have difficulty understanding and using health information. Because
of that, folks delay taking action, and before long, small problems become big
health issues.
Community health workers are stepping in
to help people understand and navigate our health care system. It’s a very
personal approach to health education. DentaQuest’s outreach team spends a lot
of time in the community talking to people about oral health and explaining dental
benefits and how to use them. National Minority Health Month gives us an
opportunity to talk about the importance of community health workers — promotores*, or outreach specialists. These committed team members are doing
incredible work to bridge health equity
across communities.
Community outreach specialists are hyper
grassroots, frontline public health translators. Using the strength of their personality;
personal contacts; trust; and an intimate understanding of the community’s
strengths, needs and social networks, they tackle sensitive health topics, correct
misinformation, and connect people with quality care. In some parts of the United States, our certified
promotores are at work in rural and
urban areas at clinics, churches, workplaces, schools, and even around
agricultural fields.
These outreach specialists are very
important to achieving our goal of ending dental disease in children. An
estimated 17 million low income children in the United States go without oral
health care each year—that’s about one out of every five children.
Outreach
workers help figure out why that happens. It might be because the families don’t
know they should seek dental care for the children. It could be because the
caregivers don’t know where to find a dentist. And it could be that the parents
simply fear going to the dentist and share that fear with their kids. Outreach
workers calm fears, educate and guide
caregivers, and help them navigate the complexities of our health care system.
They introduce families to preventive services, and even check back to be sure
treatments that are initiated get completed.
And
it’s not just for children. Regular screenings and preventive education for
people of all ages reduce poor health outcomes and health expenditures. Outreach
specialists help adults understand systemic health – what smoking does to the
body or how managing mouth disease helps control diabetes and heart disease,
for instance. It’s the trusting relationship with the community that enables outreach specialists to cross the cultural divide and get
people involved in disease prevention and wellness. This is a critical role,
especially where language, transportation and cultural responses are barriers
to health.
National
Minority Health Month - with this year's theme of health equity - is an opportunity to acknowledge the dedicated work of
our promotores / outreach
specialists and to give thanks for their genuine servicio de corazon (service from the heart).
Thank
you for all you do to advance health equity nationwide!
*Promotores de salud, also known as promotoras, is Spanish for “community
health worker.”