abstract: 'Objectives: This report describes an initiative developed and

  implemented by a low-income, urban, Canadian community to respond to

  their children''s dental problems. Methods: The first strategy pursued by

  the community was the development of the Community Dental Facilitator

  Project. This project facilitated children''s access to existing

  government funding for dental treatment, and subsequently facilitated

  access to treatment at local dental offices. Children in need of

  treatment were identified by a school dental screening. The facilitation

  work was done by three lay workers hired from within the community who

  represented the community''s predominant ethnic groups. Results: Parents

  revealed that barriers to dental care in local dental offices were lack

  of information about funding programs, language, inflexible work

  situation, and mistrust of bureaucracy. By the project''s end, with the

  assistance of the facilitators, a significantly increased number of

  children had been enrolled for government dental benefits (<.001). In

  addition to the 123 children identified at the screening as needing

  treatment, another 30 children ``self-referred{''''} to the program. At

  the end of the project''s original funding period, dental appointments

  had been made for 68 children: 60 (48.8\%) of the ``screened{''''} group,

  8 (26.7\%) of the ``self-referred{''''} group. One-year telephone

  follow-up to parents of the screened children revealed that 42 of 59

  (71.1\%) had completed treatment. Conclusions: Barriers to dental care

  for low income children go beyond `economics. A community facilitation

  model can improve low-income children''s access to existing dental

  services and may reduce the barriers to care for some children requiring

  treatment.'
affiliation: 'Harrison, RL (Corresponding Author), Univ British Columbia, Div Pediat
  Dent, Fac Dent, 2199 Wesbrook Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z3, Canada.

  Univ British Columbia, Div Pediat Dent, Fac Dent, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z3, Canada.

  Strathcona Hlth Soc, Vancouver, BC, Canada.'
author: Harrison, RL and Li, J and Pearce, K and Wyman, T
author_list:
- family: Harrison
  given: RL
- family: Li
  given: J
- family: Pearce
  given: K
- family: Wyman
  given: T
da: '2023-09-28'
files: []
issn: 0022-4006
journal: JOURNAL OF PUBLIC HEALTH DENTISTRY
keywords: 'health services accessibility; dental health services; dental care for

  children; medically underserved area; consumer participation; ethnology'
language: English
month: SPR
note: 6th National Health Promotion Conference, VICTORIA, CANADA, APR, 2002
number: '2'
number-of-cited-references: '1'
orcid-numbers: Harrison, Rosamund/0000-0003-1467-6231
pages: 126-128
papis_id: 54705955747dba966e5fcff9fe39cf21
ref: Harrison2003communitydental
times-cited: '13'
title: 'The Community Dental Facilitator Project: Reducing barriers to dental care'
type: Article; Proceedings Paper
unique-id: WOS:000183372200010
usage-count-last-180-days: '0'
usage-count-since-2013: '2'
volume: '63'
web-of-science-categories: 'Dentistry, Oral Surgery \& Medicine; Public, Environmental
  \&

  Occupational Health'
year: '2003'