State Dental Director California Department of Public Health
Participants should be aware of the following financial/non-financial relationships: . Jayanth V. Kumar, DDS, MPH: I do not have any relevant financial / non-financial relationships with any proprietary interests.
Health literacy (HL) is a central focus of Healthy People 2030 to improve health and well-being. To advance this goal, the Office of Oral Health (OOH), California Department of Public Health, engaged the Health Research for Action Center at the University of California, Berkeley, School of Public Health to develop a first-of-its-kind Oral Health Literacy Toolkit. This project aims to provide dental offices with a tool to enhance the skill sets of all dental team members for respectful, clear, accurate, and effective communication. The Toolkit consists of the following items:
• The Oral Health Literacy in Practice guidebook gives a high-level overview of oral health literacy and describes how to implement health literacy in their practice. • The Practice Assessment Checklist is an easy-to-use way to evaluate a practice’s health literacy preparedness; • The What Is Teach-Back practice guide helps oral health providers review and practice using teach-back; • The HL Action Plan template provides a place for one to write down their health literacy goals and come up with steps for reaching them; and • The Going to the Dentist brochure helps patients understand what happens before, during, and after dental visits.
The Toolkit helps the dental office team create a supportive environment for patients. In addition, it outlines the steps team members can take to identify areas for improvement and provides instruction and practical resources to address them. OOH is supporting statewide training with dental professionals to introduce the kit and ideas to implement it.
