Good oral health is the foundation of overall health excellence. It as well requires launching programs and initiatives focusing on finding ways to prevent serious oral health concerns and mitigating their negative consequences. However, the central objective of such programs is becoming the source of funding for community-based research in order to achieve the purposes mentioned above. This paper will provide an overview of three potential sources for financing oral health research such as federal funding agencies, non-governmental organizations, and private foundations.
The most influential funding agencies are those supported by national governments and driven by state budgets. They can be represented by initiatives and programs, which, in most cases, focus on solving clearly determined problems and achieving particular objectives. Some examples of federal funding agencies include Office for Minority Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Issel, 2013). These agencies concentrate on improving overall health excellence. However, they as well pay significant attention to particular sectors of the healthcare industry. For instance, Office for Minority Health (2013) launched programs for educating oral health professionals with the purpose of lifting language barriers and providing minorities with equal and adequate access to care. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) initiated a program for collecting oral health data among different social groups that can be used as the foundation and driver for positive changes in community healthcare and plan to spend $30 million to improve oral health conditions (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2016; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, n.d.). CDC is also known for supporting health promotion programs such as Healthy People 2020 paying significant attention to oral health issues. Funding cycles differ from one to ten years in length. Both offer the provision of technical and educative assistance if necessary investment in the development of healthcare professionals and community-based health research.
Another potential source of funding is the non-governmental sector. It is represented by such organizations as American Association for Community Dental Programs and American Dental Association. The focus of these associations is made on improving the nation’s oral health and increasing awareness of issues related to dental health. The foundation of an organizations’ operation is voluntary membership. That is why charitable assistance is the major portion of their funds (ADA Foundation, 2016). It is imperative to note that application is unlimited so that every citizen is free to join these institutions. Because their operations are limited to community levels, the significance of their contribution to community-based oral health research as well as control over funding them cannot be underestimated (American Association for Community Dental Programs, n.d.).
Finally, there are private foundations such as Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and W. K. Kellogg Foundation (Issel, 2013). W.K. Kellogg Foundation, for example, focuses on drawing attention to children’s oral health issues. Funding opportunities center around grants for developing the area of healthcare mentioned above spending more than $200 million annually on achieving purposes of the organization and financing grants (WKKF, 2016). As for Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, it focuses on preventative oral health measures by introducing innovations to the healthcare sector. Just like W.K. Kellogg Foundation, it is the sponsor of community-based research funding local agencies and issuing grants (RWJF, 2016). Funding cycles of both foundations are one year in length.
To sum up, private and non-governmental agencies are the best option for funding community-based oral health research. Even though their influence and funds are limited, especially if compared to governmental programs, they are more flexible due to short funding cycles and easy applicability. Moreover, these foundations are more likely to sponsor outstanding ideas because they are less disposed to bureaucratic procedures. Finally, federal agencies focus on supporting nationwide programs paying little attention to local communities.
References
ADA Foundation. (2016). Charitable assistance. Web.
American Association for Community Dental Programs. (n.d.) AACDP: About. Web.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2016). CDC – budget request overview. Web.
Issel, L. M. (2013). Health program planning and evaluation: A practical, systematic approach for community health (3rd ed.). Burlington, MA: Jones and Bartlett.
Office of Minority Health. (2013). National standards for culturally and linguistically appropriate services in health and health care: A blueprint for advancing and sustaining CLAS Policy and Practice. Web.
RWJF. (2016). Funding opportunities. Web.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (n.d.). HHS Oral Health Initiative. Web.
WKKF. (2016). What we do. Web.