Research Projects

Project SMILE

Enhancing Oral Health Care For Persons Living With HIV

DESCRIPTION

To address the underutilization of oral health care services by HIV-infected patients in Miami-Dade County, the University of Miami in collaboration with community partners will implement and evaluate an intervention guided by the Gelberg and Andersen Health Services Model for Vulnerable Populations (Gelberg, Andersen, and Leake, 2000; Lim, Andersen, Leake et al., 2002). The case management intervention will be adapted from an intervention that has been previously tested in a CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)-funded, multi-site study designed to link recently diagnosed HIV+s to primary medical care.

The proposed intervention was a brief, client-centered intervention (3 individual sessions). The interventionist worked with HIV+s who were already receiving HIV primary medical care services to identify personal and structural barriers that have prevented them from utilizing oral health services and then worked with the participant to develop strategies to overcome these barriers. We will target 600 HIV+ adults in Miami-Dade County , Florida who were eligible for Ryan White Funding so that cost of services is not a barrier. Additionally, these individuals have access to Ryan White case managers and the proposed intervention is designed to be a “first step linkage” intervention. A randomized controlled design was used to evaluate the intervention.

The specific aims of this proposal are to:

Aim 1: Implement and evaluate the effectiveness of a theory-based linkage intervention delivered to a target population of HIV+ individuals who have not received oral health services in the past 12 months.

Aim 2: Examine the extent to which predisposing, enabling, and need variables, as identified in the Gelberg and Andersen Health Services Model for Vulnerable Populations (Gelberg, Andersen, and Leake, 2000; Lim, Andersen, Leake et al., 2002) are predictors of oral health services utilization in the study sample.

Aim 3: Determine to what extent changes in the primary outcome--utilization of oral health services-- are maintained over time.

CONSULTANTS

• Judy Williams, Ph.D. – Williams, Stern & Associates
• Carlos Del Rio , M.D. – Emory University

Project Smile

FUNDING SOURCE

National Institute of Dental & Craniofacial Research (NIDCR)

Investigators