You C*A*N* Make A Difference: Communicate Advocate - Network
Pamela Johnson, Health Coordinator, Mason-Thurston Head Start/ECEAP-Region X,
Olympia, Washington
As a Head Start Health Coordinator I feel one of my most important responsibilities is advocating for health services for children and families. In the past year I have had an opportunity to exercise this responsibility in a very active way, by learning how to communicate, advocate, and network.
It began after a frustrating day of realizing that fewer and fewer of our children had access to dental providers. Facing the need to extend beyond our usual program resources for assistance, I called the office of a State Senator who had in the past served on our Health Advisory Committee, to find out where to send a letter about our concerns. I then called the office of a newly elected state representative whose platform had included an interest in children's health issues. I identified myself and asked to make an appointment. In less than five minutes I had appointments with two legislators.
For the next two weeks, until the appointments, I gathered and organized data to illustrate our problem. I ran a computer report listing every dentist a program child had seen to date, how many needed treatment, and so forth. Results showed that 75 different dentists had seen our 500+ enrolled children (including drops). Of these 75, 6 had seen over 53% of the children (one dentist alone saw 136), leaving 69 dentists seeing an average of 1 to 3 children each.
The visits to the legislators were wonderful learning experiences. They were personable and attentive to our concerns. Both requested additional information which I integrated into my follow-up, thank you letters.
A month later I received a call from the State representative's office telling me that officers from the county dental society would be meeting with her in three weeks and could I be there also. With my updated statistics in hand I attended the meeting and shared our concerns. The dentists were surprised at the extent of the access problem. Overall they were very enthusiastic about working with us. This meeting led to another at which time the two legislators and I were invited to speak at an upcoming dental society meeting.
Before our presentation I prepared a talk which would be positive, informative, and thought-provoking. The response was well worth the effort. I found out that most providers had no idea about Head Start program standards and time lines. They expressed appreciation at learning more about why access was such a problem for our children and families.
As a result, six dentists volunteered their offices for screening exam clinics. Some on their days off! The offices gave me a date, clinic hours, and how they wanted the children scheduled (three per hour, every fifteen minutes, etc.). They also provided us with new patient health history forms to be filled out in advance. I made up individual schedules which included appointment slots, name, phone, center, parent, dental insurance/coupons, and whether or not the child needed transportation and/ or a translator. Program staff made phone calls to fill the slots, and signed people up at enrollment. Before each clinic, I took the schedules and paperwork to the dentist's office so they could make up files and have them ready as the children arrived. After the clinics, I sent thank you letters and assisted with Medicaid billing concerns.
Since my first tentative steps with the legislature, I have developed working relationships with people at the Health Dept., State Dept. of Health, Dept. of Health and Human Services, University of Washington, Dental Society, and others. When I'm not sure how to proceed with an individual dental access concern, I call one of my contacts for suggestions. I write thank you notes or make personal phone calls to let someone know how their referral helped me. After each dental clinic, for example, I send personalized information about the day's experiences to the State representatives I've been working with. They in turn write a letter of thanks to the dentist office. I invited representatives from various state and county agencies to visit our office and meet with our health staff so they could have a better understanding of how our services to families interconnected with theirs. Several serve on our Health Advisory Committee. As a part of meeting with these agencies I let them know I want to take an active role in working toward a resolution of the children's dental access concern in Washington State. As a result I was asked to serve on a State task force addressing this issue, to speak on dental advocacy to health coordinators in a neighboring county, to participate as a panelist at the State HS/ECEAP Health Coordinator's conference, and write this article.
The hard work has paid off. Our governor's proposed budget has a provision which could have a significant impact on improving dental access for our children. Whatever the outcome, my advocacy experiences have opened new avenues for me and our program as well as providing opportunities for personal growth. I will continue to communicate, advocate, and network because I know I have made a difference. And YOU C*A*N make a difference, too!