AIDPH hosted its annual colloquium “Confronting Inequity Through Oral Health Policy” on January 14 and 15, 2020. This year’s colloquium featured expert speakers from diverse backgrounds to lead the discussion around inequities in public policy and how clinicians, policy makers and leaders can affect change.

Dr. Gina Thornton-Evans, Director of the CDC Dental Public Health Residency Program, presented Healthy People 2020 And Beyond—New Directions. In this presentation, Dr. Thornton-Evans discusses Healthy People’s history of public health research and objectives, including the integration of oral health. She describes Healthy People’s evolution in line with achieving health equity, including new national and state objectives for the next decade.

Presentation Abstract

Healthy People 2030 marks the fifth iteration of this national initiative to monitor the health of the nation. Objectives related to oral health were first introduced in 1979 focusing on fluoridation and dental caries. The Healthy People initiative has evolved over time starting with approximately 200 objectives and currently containing over 1400 objectives for Healthy People 2020. The current goals of HP 2020 focus on achieving health equity and eliminating disparities. This presentation will focus on the historical aspects of this initiative and the evolution of the oral health objectives. Also, discussion of strategies for emerging issues and the role of the social determinants of health will be addressed.

What do you think? How can we engage ourselves in the goals of Healthy People 2020 and 2030?

If you’d like to know more about the 2020 AIDPH Colloquium, you can check out the Book of Proceedings. You can also watch the full presentation here. 

Post authored by:

Caitie Skaggs | AIDPH Staff

The American Institute of Dental Public Health

programs@aidph.org