• Watch Your Mouth Massachusetts: The Watch Your Mouth Coalition Is Working In Massachusetts, New Hampshire And Maine To Make Children's Oral Health A Priority. Objectives of the Watch Your Mouth Coalition are to Educate the public that tooth decay is the most common childhood disease that can cause diminished school performance and poor overall health. WYM advocates for wider access to preventive services, such as dental sealants and fluoride, and regular dental exams for all children.
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Newsletter

Vol. 3, issue 1
January 2008

January Events

Greetings!

Dental Heroes

Welcome back! The New Year brings us an opportunity to renew our commitment to improve the communities we live in. Let's celebrate 2008 by making a resolution to work together to make children's oral health a top priority in our state. Scroll on and mark your calendars for Watch Your Mouth's Third Annual Oral Health Heroes on February 14, a celebration to honor legislators and community leaders committed to children's oral health.

Speaking of events, the Catalyst Institute will also host a legislative briefing at the State House to reveal the status of children's oral health in Massachusetts. We will also brush up on framing with a five minute refresher course from Frameworks Institute and announce a call for nominations for Health Care For All's Community Leader Award. Last but not least, we will feature this month's partner spotlight, Codman Square Health Center.

Watch Your Mouth invites you to the Third Annual Oral Health Heroes Event

February is Children's Dental Health month, and the Watch Your Mouth Campaign invites you to the Third Annual Oral Health Heroes Event on February 14, a celebration to honor legislators, community leaders and organizations that have improved the state of oral health in Massachusetts. We encourage you to nominate individuals, organizations, or groups in Massachusetts that have demonstrated the following:

  • Outstanding leadership in oral health advocacy and/or organizing;
  • Strong commitment to improving the state of oral health in Massachusetts

Nominations are due by January 24, 2008! Please email or fax your nominations to biton@hcfama.org or 617.451.5838. For more information, please contact Czarina at biton@hcfama.org or 617.275.2838.

Join us as we celebrate our third annual event to honor local heroes of oral health. Bring a friend and we will see you on at the State House on February 14!

Download the Oral Health Heroes Nomination Form

The Catalyst Institute Reveals the Oral Health Status of Children in the Commonwealth

smiling child

A new report detailing the oral health status of school children in Massachusetts reveals severe disparities in the oral health status of the Commonwealth's children. The findings of the report "Healthy Kids Ready to Learn: Toward Better Oral Health for Massachusetts School Children", conducted by the Catalyst Institute and funded by Delta Dental, will be presented to advocates, legislators, public health and other health care professionals at a special briefing on Thursday, January 24, 2008.

The Watch Your Mouth Campaign invites you to attend this briefing at the Massachusetts State on January 24, 2008 at 10:30 A.M. as we learn about the findings of this very important study.

RSVP for this event!

Five Minute Refresher Course on Framing

We use the concept of framing everyday to make sense of our world and the new information we acquire. Frames are also important for advocates to help shape the conversation and get others to think the same way about the issue we care about. Frameworks Institute's E-zine features a brief refresher of framing tips to jog our memory for the upcoming year. The E-zine looks at several big picture concepts such as the different levels of understanding that help direct our thought process when we frame issues. There is also a review of what research suggests about "framing" and the questions we should be asking to improve communications with our advocates.

Read the full article.

Call for Nominations for Health Care For All's Community Leader Award

Health Care For All

This Year, Health Care For All will present two Community Leader Awards to individuals who have made a significant impact in health care within the communities they serve at the 2008 Policy and Organizing Conference, "Building Momentum, Moving Forward." The conference, which will bring together leading policymakers, health care providers, community and business leaders, organizers and activists from across the state on Friday, March 28th at the Holiday Inn Boxborough (242 Adams Place Boxborough, MA 01719.)

For more information about the conference, send an email to hcfaconferenceinfo@hcfama.org or call our conference hotline at (617) 275-2934.

Nominate a dynamic leader in your community!

January Partner Spotlight -- Codman Square Health Center

codman square staff photo

The Codman Square Health Center (CSHC) opened its doors in 1979 in the basement of an old Boston Public Library branch. The staff was limited-three doctors and two dentists-but the goals were not. As co-founder and current CEO William Walczak asserted in his Dedication Day speech in 1979: "Medical care must be both available and affordable." Today, the center has over 280 employees and 80,000 patient visits a year. It expects to have 15,000 dental visits in the coming year in its state of the art facility.

The health center and its programs have expanded to occupy almost two football fields in space, but it has remained committed to its roots-as a visionary promoter of health in the community. It is a simple mission, upheld at the CSHC through programming that is both responsive to the changing needs of the community and engaging through its fifty-plus partnerships. In 2008, two issues are emerging as special priorities: access to health insurance, and chronic disease. The CSHC is working to ease the transition to the health insurance mandate system by uniting the uninsured with the resources they need. The health center is also adapting to the growing challenge of chronic disease, most recently through a partnership with Healthworks to build a 9,000 sq. ft. fitness and nutrition facility. The Codman Square Health Center continues to meet evolving challenges, while maintaining its focus on promoting a "culture of health" in its community.

To learn more about the Codman Square Health Center and participate in promoting a culture of health, contact Kristen Lynch 617-822-8352, kristen.lynch@codman.org.

Check out Codman Square Health Center's Website

We'd love to share information about upcoming events in your community. Keep us informed and we'd be happy to spread the word.

Many Thanks,

Czarina Biton





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