To elevate the national conversation around diabetes, 14 National Training and Technical Assistance Partner (NTTAP) organizations formed the Special and Vulnerable Populations - Diabetes Task Force to engage health centers, Primary Care Associations (PCAs), and Health Center Controlled Networks (HCCNs) to increase knowledge of effective strategies that address diabetes among people experiencing homelessness, residents of public housing, migratory and seasonal agricultural workers, school-aged children, older adults, Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders, LGBTQIA+ people, and other health center patients.

Visit their website below for resources, webinars, and learning collaborative opportunities!

https://chcdiabetes.org/

This promising practice features Horizon Health Care, Inc. in South Dakota. This health center implemented a medical and dental integration program for patients with diabetes while participating in NNOHA's Integration of Diabetes and Oral Health Learning Collaborative.

Live webinar on 12/12/2017

Live webinar on 11/27/18  

National Network for Oral Health Access and National Health Care for the Homeless Council have partnered to present this webinar on oral health and diabetes for patients experiencing homelessness. There is an association between periodontal disease and diabetes. There is a heavy burden of periodontal disease and diabetes for individuals experiencing homelessness due to the barriers they experience to healthcare. This webinar will review the relationship between periodontal disease and diabetes, barriers to healthcare, and prevalence of diabetes and periodontal disease in this population. This webinar will also feature health center experiences with treating patients who experience homelessness.

This Breakthrough Series Learning Collaborative works with health centers to implement the NNOHA User’s Guide for Implementation of Interprofessional Oral Health Core Clinical Competencies. Participating teams adopt and apply the oral health core clinical competencies (Risk Assessment, Oral Health Evaluation, Preventive Interventions, Communication and Education, and Interprofessional Collaborative Practice), resulting in integration of oral health and primary care practice for improved outcomes for health center patients.

Applications for the 2023 cohort are closed. Stay tuned for the next cohort in late Summer 2024.

Jerry Brown, DMD, CDE. 

People with diabetes are at higher risk for periodontal disease. In fact, periodontal disease is the most common dental disease affecting patients with diabetes. Research also suggests that treating gum disease can help improve blood sugar control in patients living with diabetes. This presentation discusses the challenges of patients living with diabetes, the special requirements patients have for regular professional periodontal care, good diet and diligent home care. Dental clinicians will be able to help patients understand how personal partnership with their dental health provider can help them manage their overall health with the goal of lowering their HbA1c and decreasing periodontal infection.

Holly Kingsbury, MPH, Katya Mauritson, DMD, Carol Niforatos, DDS. 

Integrating Diabetes Prevention and Management and Oral Health: Lessons Learned from a Pilot Project. This session will support participants’ efforts to integrate diabetes prevention and management and oral health using quality improvement tools. The session will also identify possible next steps to explore integration for other chronic diseases and opportunities to support integration at a whole-systems level.

Holly Kingsbury, MPH; Katya Mauritson, DMD, MPH; Carol Niforatos, DDS. 

Successful integration requires collaboration and creativity from all involved. Three partners from Colorado will describe a pilot project to integrate oral health into primary health care for patients with prediabetes and diabetes. The session will highlight the ingredients for collaboration and the roles state health departments and Primary Care Associations can play to support health centers in enhancing integrated care and will demonstrate how they can build on its existing integrated model to deliver patient-centered diabetes prevention and management.