Designated Health Projects: Kentucky Oral Health Network Madisonville

The purpose of this program is to continue to build a rural, community-based clinical research and service network throughout Kentucky. The UK College of Dentistry, the Centers for Rural Health (Hazard, Morehead, and Madisonville ), rural regional medical centers, and a series of State Health Departments have developed an interdisciplinary consortium to improve oral health in rural Kentucky and to explore the linkages between poor oral health and several general health disparities in Kentucky. An earlier award (HRSA D1ARH 05653, 2005) allowed the initial development of this project that included infrastructure and initial pilot projects to address disparities in rural Kentucky with regard to access to care, poor birthing outcomes, high diabetes rates, and severe early childhood caries. This previous award was designed to initiate linkages between rural health centers and the UK Center for Oral Health Research (COHR) that would lead to the development of improved care facilities, improved dental manpower, and improved training and skills of local providers to carry out meaningful oral and health care related research which would lead to improved oral health outcomes in these poor, rural communities. The regions that were targeted in the initial award (Ky CARAT) were chosen as regions of the state with high rates of poverty and disparities in both their oral health and general health. The UK Center for Oral Health Research worked with each community to determine their needs with regard to infrastructure, healthcare manpower, and most disparate health problems to be addressed.