FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Funding will help improve oral health of older adults in Maine
BANGOR, Maine – The Lunder-Dineen Health Education Alliance of Maine announced today, during National Dental Hygiene Month, that it has been selected to receive a $100,000 grant from the DentaQuest Foundation to improve oral health education and further asses barriers to oral health care in Maine. The organization was chosen based on its commitment to providing quality, free health education and bettering the lives of its community members through its MOTIVATE initiative.
The MOTIVATE initiative – which stands for Maine’s Oral Team-Based Initiative: Vital Access to Education – is an innovative and Maine-tailored education program developed by Lunder-Dineen and a statewide advisory team of Maine-based experts in response to national calls-to-action from the U.S. Surgeon General, American Dental Association, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and others to raise awareness about the connection between good oral health and good overall health.
The project’s mission is to use the latest research findings to improve, promote and protect the oral and overall health of long-term care residents in Maine using evidence-based programs in a collaborative education and practice model.
The sizeable grant will be used to develop the innovative, blended-learning, interprofessional education framework to address the identified gaps from the needs assessment research.
“Lunder-Dineen appreciates DentaQuest Foundation’s philanthropic support and recognition of the value of the MOTIVATE initiative,” says Labrini Nelligan, executive director of Lunder-Dineen. “It allows us to continue our work with this program with the goal of improving the oral health of older adults in Maine, and therefore enhancing their dignity and quality of life.”
The DentaQuest Foundation has committed itself to supporting organizations through grant-making efforts to build the oral health network at the local, state and national level. The goals of the funding are consistent with the DentaQuest Foundation’s Oral Health 2020 campaign, which emphasizes a reduction in childhood oral disease, inclusion of oral health in the public education system and expansion of dental benefits under the Medicare and Medicaid programs.
“We’re excited to partner with Lunder-Dineen, a proven advocate for health education,” said Ralph Fuccillo, president of the DentaQuest Foundation. “Our mission is to improve the oral health of all, and by engaging with Lunder-Dineen, we look forward to supporting their important efforts in Maine.”
After analyzing identified gaps and opportunities, the MOTIVATE initiative will leverage the support from DentaQuest Foundation and the infrastructure and curriculum development expertise of Massachusetts General Hospital, Lunder-Dineen, and beyond to develop a model of interprofessional education in partnership with the MOTIVATE advisory team. This model will enable care teams to provide effective, efficient oral health care to older adults as part of a patient-centered care model.
For more information about MOTIVATE, visit lunderdineen.org/oral-health-motivate.