13
Volume2 Issue3
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CDA
at
W
ork
ADVOCACYTOOLS
TO IMPROVE
SENIORS'ORALHEALTH
“Seniorshave specificoral healthneeds. Poor
oral healthcandramaticallyaffect a senior’s
qualityof life,” saysDr.MitchTaillon, chair of
CDA’sAccess toCareWorkingGroup. “This is
especially trueof those seniorswho require
greater care. Oral painandoral infections
can influence theability toeat, communicate
and sleep, leaving these seniors vulnerable
tomanyother general health issues.”
FederalAdvocacy
CDA’s efforts to raiseawareness about
the issueamongpolitical leaders are
bearing fruit. TheAssociationhasprovided
background informationon thematter to
keyMembersof Parliament (MPs), someof
whom then reachedout to formerMinister
of VeteranAffairs JulianFantino. In letters
sent to theminister, theMPsurgedhim
toadoptCDA’s recommended standards
for LTCwhenentering intocontractual
agreementswithcareproviders. CDAhas
also reachedout to thenewminister, the
Hon. ErinO’Toole, andwill continue to
reinforce thismessage.
Theoral healthof seniors in living inLTC
facilitieswill be further discussedduring
CDA’supcomingDayson theHill event in
May2015,where representatives from the
professionwillmeetwithMPs toadvocate
for initiatives andpolicychanges to improve
theoral healthof Canadians.
SeniorsAdvocacyToolKit
CDAdoesn’t limit its advocacyefforts to the
federal level. Tohelp support dentists and
dental organizations in their provincial and
regional advocacyefforts, theCDAAccess
toCareWorkingGrouphas alsodeveloped
acomprehensive seniors advocacy tool kit
that canbeusedwhenadvocating for oral
healthcare standards inLTC facilities.
InterdisciplinaryCollaboration
A key itemon theagendaat theCanadian
Oral HealthRoundtable,whichCDA
hosted inFebruary,was the ratification
of aconsensus statement onoral health
standardsof care for LTC facilities (p. 14).
CDAwill becommunicatingwith the
29organizations that participated in the
event to seek their endorsement of the
discussedconsensus statement.
TheCanadianMedical Association (CMA)
has also reachedout toCDAwith regard
to its forthcomingnational strategyon
care for seniors. CDAparticipated in several
discussionswithvarious stakeholders and
submitted four standardsof care toCMA
that shouldbe implemented inLTC facilities,
namely:
Anoral health screeninguponadmission
Anannual examinationbyadentist
Adailymouthcareplan
Suitable infrastructure to support the
appropriatedeliveryof neededdental
care.
a
Canada’s population
is aging at a rapid
pace. Statistics Canada
predicts that by 2016
the number of seniors
could exceed that of
children in the country.
Well aware of the
demographic changes
facing our society,
CDA has been
actively advocating
for improved oral
health care for seniors
living in long-term
care (LTC) facilities,
to address the needs
of current and future
residents.
Dr.MitchTaillon
Chairof theCDA
AccesstoCare
WorkingGroup
SeniorsAdvocacyToolKit
The tool kit includes:
Ahow-toguideandchecklist for
conductingpoliticalmeetings
Asample leave-behindbriefingdocument
Adraftopinioneditorialonoralhealth in
LTC fornewspapers
Adraft letter toaMemberofParliament
Ameeting feedback form
