FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

BANGOR, Maine-The Lunder-Dineen Health Education Alliance of Maine announces that the Sam L. Cohen Foundation has awarded a $15,000 grant to the organization’s MOTIVATE oral health education 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 long-term care residents in Maine using evidence-based programs in a collaborative education and practice model.

The Sam L. Cohen Foundation, concentrating its efforts in southern Maine, focuses on providing people with the opportunity to develop their potential and provide healthy, productive futures for themselves and their families, and throughout their communities.

“Lunder-Dineen is deeply grateful to the Sam L. Cohen Foundation for providing a generous philanthropic commitment to MOTIVATE,” says Labrini Nelligan, executive director of Lunder-Dineen. “This allows us to continue our work to improve the oral health, and subsequently the dignity and quality of life, for older adults in Maine.”

“This grant will help the MOTIVATE team improve oral health in Maine through health education,” says Demi Kouzounas, immediate past president of the Maine Dental Association. “I’ve seen the need for this education first hand as a dental professional in Maine with older adult patients. Simple enhancements in oral health care will make a big difference for many long-term care residents.”

With the grant from the Sam L. Cohen Foundation, Lunder-Dineen and its MOTIVATE advisory team will complete needs assessment research in collaboration with Maine Veterans’ Homes, under the guidance of the University of New England and the University of Maine. The goal of the research is to identify gaps and barriers in oral health education in long term care settings.

For more information about MOTIVATE, visit lunderdineen.org/oral-health.