Improve Communication & Health Equity at Community Health Centers

  • Saturday 1/27/2024
  • Time: 10:00 am - 12:00 pm
  • Course Code: 768SL
  • Cost: No Charge
  • Room Location: BCEC Room 257 B
  • Credits: 2 CE Hours
speaker
Scune Carrington, is the Director of Integrated Care at the Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers. In that role she is responsible for providing leadership and management of Oral Health, Behavioral Health, and Integrated Care Initiatives and practices in health centers across the state by developing technical assistance, capacity building of programs based on proven quality and process improvement models. She has over a decade of experience in the successful implementation, execution and management behavioral health care redesign initiatives. Prior to working at the League, Scune was the Director of the Behavioral Health Community Partner Program (BHCP) in the Ambulatory and Integrated Services division of Beth Israel Lahey Health Behavioral Services. Scune also served as the Project Director of the Lahey Transformative Research and Innovation Initiative (LTRII). She has extensive knowledge of behavioral health care innovation with a passion to transform healthcare using technology to drive more efficient, safe and client-centered care. She has co-authored “A Framework for Complex Care Innovation, a set of aligning principles for creating change in Massachusetts complex care practice” as an output of that work. Scune is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and received her Master’s degree in Social Work from Boston College School of Social Work where she was the recipient of the Dean’s leadership award. Scune Carrington is currently pursuing her Doctorate of Health Science with a focus on Global Health at the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences.
speaker
Katie Jahreis, is the Manager of Oral Health Programs at the Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers. In that role, she is responsible for managing health center dental projects and supporting health center dental directors and dental departments. Katie has over 10 years experience working in public health. Prior to working at the League, Katie was a project manager at Ariadne Labs for safe surgery projects to promote improved teamwork and communication in the operating room. Katie is a graduate of Providence College and received her Master’s in Public Health with an emphasis on social and behavioral health from the Boston University School of Public Health

Patient-centered care has become a central tenet of oral health care, proving to be largely beneficial in engaging patients as active partners in care. However, presently in the oral health care industry, in the presence of daily experiences of racism, patients of marginalized backgrounds experience fair or poor oral health. Racially discordant patient-provider pairs experience communication barriers. This is the result of provider implicit biases, a lack of oral health literacy on behalf of the patient, or dental-care related anxiety.

This presentation will discuss oral health equity in relation to communication health centers and how implicit bias can effect communication in the oral health setting. Presenters will review strategies for to increase impactful communication among black, indigenous, people of color (BIPOC) patients and their dental providers and discuss opportunities for community health centers to operationalize strategies to improve communication in their dental departments.


The Massachusetts Dental Society (MDS) has partnered with the Mass League to provide a curriculum intended for Community Health Center staff to attend. This means any and all CHC dentists, hygienists, limited license dentists, assistants, externs, residents, and office staff can attend the following courses. These courses are not intended for dental professionals who are employed by a privately owned or corporate practice. 

After this course attendees will be able to:
  • Describe oral health equity issues and application to community health centers
  • Discuss implicit bias and its effect on communication in the oral health setting
  • Identify opportunities to operationalize strategies to improve communication in their own community health centers
Recommended Audience: Assistant, Dentist, Hygienist, Office

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ADA CERP

The Massachusetts Dental Society is an ADA CERP Recognized Provider. ADA CERP is a service of the American Dental Association to assist dental professionals in identifying quality providers of continuing dental education. ADA CERP does not approve or endorse individual courses or instructors, nor does it imply acceptance of credit hours by boards of dentistry. Concerns or complaints about a CE provider may be directed to the provider or to the Commission for Continuing Education Provider Recognition at ADA.org/CERP.