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Give Kids A Smile :-)

January 29, 2010 By Meredith Leave a Comment

Dentists Offer Free Dental Services to Uninsured Children

Trumbull, Connecticut, January 21, 2010—-Encouraging a lifetime of good dental hygiene, and offering urgently-needed dental care to children without dental insurance are the goals of the Give Kids A Smile® 2010 program.

In recognition of National Dental Health Month in February, 57 area dentists will treat children, ages 3 to 18, in their offices who otherwise lack access to affordable dental care. For the past four years, the Southwestern Area Health Education Center’s Oral Health Bridgeport Initiative (ORBIT), in collaboration with the Bridgeport Dental Association, has successfully supported this important initiative, which helps to increase public awareness for children’s need to receive regular dental care.

Beginning on Tuesday, Feb. 2, GKAS® participating dentists in Bridgeport, Stratford, Trumbull, Fairfield, Southport, Monroe, Shelton, Milford, Orange and New Haven opened their offices to provide free dental care. The following services are offered: cleanings, exams, x-rays, sealants, fluoride treatments, fillings, crowns, pulpotomies, root canals and,extractions.

Appointments must be made in advance by calling the Southwestern AHEC’s Oral Health Care Coordinator Vani Anand, MPH, at (203) 372-5503, ext 12.

Funded by a grant from the Connecticut Health Foundation, Give Kids A Smile® in 2009 provided dental services for 450 local children, said Meredith Ferraro, Executive Director of Southwestern AHEC.

Ferraro noted, “We were fortunate to have 52 dentists who provided services valued at more than $150,000.”

Families are encouraged to call for an appointment as soon as possible. “We are also scheduling appointments throughout the entire month of February so that we can accommodate as many children as possible,” Ferraro noted.

Participating dentists recognize the need for families to establish good dental habits at an early age. Routine dental care at home includes daily brushing and flossing as well as regular dental checkups. This year the American Dental Association strongly urges families to also establish a “dental home” for their children so that they will have a comfortable, familiar setting to receive regular dental care.

Untreated dental problems affect children’s overall health, said Dr. Brian Amoroso, president of the Bridgeport Dental Association. Studies reveal that dental caries, or tooth decay, is the most prevalent chronic childhood disease, resulting in excruciating pain, infection, difficulty eating, sleeping and speaking.

“Children who do not have dental insurance are a population that cannot fight for themselves because of their (financial) limitations,” Dr. Amoroso said. “When you have a toothache, you are easily distracted and cannot focus in class. You may even have to miss classes because of the pain.”

Dental problems also exacerbate children’s feelings of low self-esteem and contribute to a poor self-image.

“It’s wonderful because many local dentists have quietly been taking care of children who do not have access to dental insurance for years,” said Ferraro. “Our goal with the Give Kids A Smile® initiative is to put the children who do not have dental insurance together with the dentists who are willing to help.”

More than ever, as the faltering economy continues to lead to job reduction and loss of insurance benefits, free dental care for children is needed.

“The Give Kids A Smile® program is one that my staff and I have truly enjoyed being a part of over the last few years,” said Dr. Salvatore Pizzino, the Bridgeport Dental Association’s program’s chairperson. “Since 2007, it’s been exciting to see the steady increase in the number of children receiving treatment as well as an increase in the number of members volunteering their services. It’s fulfilling to give back to the community, especially to children in need, and I am fortunate to have the ability to do that.  During these difficult economic times, our help is even more appreciated and I hope that we are an inspiration to other people in our community.”

The Connecticut State Dental Association applauded last year’s program in the greater Bridgeport region. Participating dentists are also recognized by the Southwestern AHEC and the Bridgeport Dental Association at their annual meeting in May.

Tax deductible donations to the Give Kids A Smile® 2010 program are also appreciated. Checks should be made payable to “Southwestern AHEC” and mailed to Southwestern AHEC, 5520 Park Avenue, Suite 109, Trumbull, CT  06611.

For more information about the program, you may contact Vani Anand, MPH, ORBIT’s oral health care coordinator at (203) 372-5503, ext. 12; Dr. Brian Amoroso, President of the BDA, at (203) 333-3636; or Dr. Salvatore Pizzino, BDA’s GKAS Chairman, at (203) 255-5142.

Stratford Students Learn AND Serve

January 4, 2010 By Erin Leave a Comment

Bunnell Students “Flood” Middle Schoolers with Health and Wellness Information

Thirty-two students from Bunnell High School took a wealth of knowledge and enthusiasm to Flood Middle School to share their insight on health and wellness for the body and mind. The Bunnell students are part of Melissa Signor’s Medical Careers class, as well as the Youth Health Service Corps (YHSC), run in conjunction with Southwestern Area Health Education Center. YHSC is a health careers recruitment program that engages high school students as leaders in meaningful service that addresses community health issues. After a rigorous volunteer training throughout the fall semester, the students researched various health topics and developed a learn and serve project to present at the middle school. Twelve different subject areas – including Oral Health, First Aid and Healthy Diet – were researched and became the focus of 5-minute mini presentations for Flood students.

Angeli Pena, Bunnell, searches for “leftover germs” in a handwashing activity done with the middle school students.
Angeli Pena, Bunnell, searches for “leftover germs” in a handwashing activity done with the middle school students.

On December 17th, Bunnell students displayed their work at Flood. Over 300 middle schoolers came through the health fair stations in small groups, as Bunnell students delivered an abundance of information in the form of interactive games, skits and activities. The students showed great maturity and were professionally dressed, well-spoken and extremely engaging. Flood students asked many questions, actively participated at each station, and were genuinely intrigued by all of the information presented.

Freddy Gonzales (far right) engages in an interactive test of the middle school students’ comprehension of verbal, non-verbal and physical, sexual harassment.
Freddy Gonzales (far right) engages in an interactive test of the middle school students’ comprehension of verbal, non-verbal and physical, sexual harassment.

This opportunity not only gave the students a chance to investigate topics of interest and creatively develop a way to convey the information and its importance to younger students, it also gave them some new insight and appreciation for teachers. Maureen DiDomenico, Coordinator of Fine Arts, Health and Physical Education for the district, stated “This experience highlighted the preparation, patience, and dedication required to impact the learning of children. This revelation, combined with the skills they garnered by researching a topic, creating visuals to depict their findings and by presenting these findings, will serve them well in the future.” The success of the event, and its mutually beneficial results, inspired the scheduling of a second display during the spring semester to give the remainder of Flood students the exciting and fruitful experience.

YHSC Health Fair

Community Health Worker Training with CHIPRA and CHC-ACT

January 3, 2010 By Bobbi Leave a Comment

Southwestern AHEC is partnering with the Commnity Health Center Association of Connecticut Association of Connecticut (CHCACT) in Newington on their newly awarded Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009 (CHIPRA) Grant from the Department of Health and Human Services.

IN NEWINGTON IS AWARDED $988,177 AND

Secretary Sebelius Awards $40 Million to States to Find, Enroll Children in CHIP, Medicaid

HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius today announced $40 million in grants to 69 grantees in 41 states and the District of Columbia to help them find and enroll children who are uninsured but eligible for either Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP).

“Today’s awards will help fulfill President Obama’s pledge to assure the health and well-being of our nation’s children,” said Secretary Sebelius. “With millions of Americans either out of work or otherwise struggling to make ends meet during this recession, there is an even greater urgency to bring steady, reliable health care to children in these families who may have lost their coverage.”

Recognizing that millions of children are eligible for Medicaid or CHIP, but are therefore needlessly uninsured, the Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009 (CHIPRA) set aside $100 million for fiscal years 2009-2013 expressly to help find and enroll eligible children. Of the total outreach amount, $80 million will be given to states and other organizations, $10 million to Tribal organizations and $10 million for a national outreach effort. Today’s awards are for a two year period ending Dec. 31, 2011, which will then be followed by a second round of $40 million in new grants.

As called for in CHIPRA, grants were awarded to applicants whose outreach, enrollment and retention efforts will target geographic areas with high rates of eligible but uninsured children, particularly those with racial and ethnic minority groups who are uninsured at higher-than-average rates. For example, 20 percent of the projects to be funded will target Hispanic children, with an emphasis on Hispanic teens, and 11 percent will focus on homeless children and seven percent will be aimed at Native American/Alaska Native children.

The vast majority of grantees will be using multiple, community-based approaches. One grantee in Missouri, for example, will work with a consortium of 35 churches in low-income, minority communities. Those parishioners will go door-to-door to locate potentially eligible children and then help those families apply for CHIP or Medicaid coverage. Another grantee will place self-service kiosks in community centers and Native American Chapter Houses (community halls) where there will also be staff available to help with applications if needed. One state school system will track children who receive free or reduced cost lunches and, with the families’ permission, share that information with state health programs, which will, in turn, mail applications for CHIP and Medicaid to those families. The state will also provide one-on-one-assistance with those applications.

The grant awards require that recipients be able to show actual increases in enrollment and retention of children already in the programs. Both CHIP and Medicaid state agencies are to report to the Centers for Medicare & Medicare Services (CMS) the number of new enrollees and those who retained coverage that are directly attributable to the grant activities. Grantees are also to report activities they believe were the most effective in finding, enrolling and maintaining children in these benefit programs.

“No child in America should go without decent health care,” said Cindy Mann, director of the Center for Medicaid and State Operations — the group within CMS that will administer the grants. “With the funds we are awarding today we hope to reduce the number of children who do.”

Millie Seguinot is Southwestern AHEC’s Community Health Worker Project Coordinator, who will be working closely in the training and fieldwork of the Community Health Workers from the 13 Community Health Center sites of CHCACT to get children enrolled in HUSKY.

Millie Seguinot and Juan Sepulveda, Director, White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans, at the CHIPRA Meeting in Chicago.

Millie Seguinot and Juan Sepulveda, Director, White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans, at the CHIPRA Meeting in Chicago.