Transcript DH 226 Dental Law and Ethics

Chapter 4
Social Responsibility and Justice
Objectives
 Describe the role of the dental hygienist in
meeting the oral health care needs of the public
 Relate the importance of the Surgeon General’s
Report on Oral Health to the profession of dental
hygiene.
 Describe the issue of access to care and social
responsibility
 Identify several strategies that a dental hygienist
can implement in striving for social justice
Disparities in Oral Health Care
 Surgeon General’s Report on Oral Health
 First report was published in 2000.
 “Mouth is a mirror” of the body
 Addressed disparities and inequalities that affect the
most vulnerable populations: poor, children, elderly,
disabled and racial and ethnic minorities
 Pg 57
Disparities in Oral Health Care
 Report includes conditions and diseases such as oral
cancers, lesions of the head and neck, birth defects,
and facial pain.
 Report established that oral health is integral to
general health and that the two should not be looked
at separately.
 Oral health is a critical component of overall health.
Disparities in Oral Health Care
Disparities in Oral Health Care
 National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research
published A Plan to Eliminate Craniofacial, Oral and
Health Disparities in 2002.
 Report listed many factors besides finances that must be
identified when determining why certain populations become
patients and others do not.
 Social, political, economic, and cultural factors clearly
underlie the complex social problem of inequality.
 In 2006, 2 children died due to dental abscesses, making
headlines and triggering legislative actions to prevent this
from happening again.
Health Disparities &
Professionalism
 47 million in the US are uninsured or have no health
insurance; even more have no dental insurance
 Historic definition of a profession—finding solutions to
oral health disparities.
 Dental hygienists are focused on prevention, a focus that
fits well with the goals of health promotion established by
the US dept. of Public Health.
 What it means to be a professional—pg 58
Standards of professional responsibility,
community, and society.
 Increased access to care
 Promoting public health
 Supporting justice
 Recognizing an obligation to provide pro bono service
Ethical Goals in Oral Health Care
 Values of importance to achieving ethical goals in
healthcare (goals that focus on society)
 Caring
 Stewardship
 Justice
 Different from ethical principles that focus on the
individual like autonomy and self-determination.
 Justice in dental care is a complex topic……..
Ethical Goals in Oral Health Care
 What is fair or just?
 What does the just distribution of dental health care
resources look like?
 What kind of care are individuals entitled to when
resources are limited?
 What really is considered basic or adequate dental
care?
Ethical Goals in Oral Health Care
 Even the definition of access can be misleading Access: freedom or ability to obtain
 Accessibility: the ease with which health care can be reached
in the face of barriers such as finance or culture
 According to Garetto and Yoder, we also have the
responsibility to those who are unaware of need, do not seek
it, cannot get to it, or are afraid of it.
 Ethically the goal of improving the health of the population is
a societal greater good benefitting society at large
Social Justice
 Social responsibility as part of professionalism
 ADEA: American Dental Education Association
 ADEA defined its role and responsibility with its
member institutions in improving the oral health
status of all Americans in a report in 2003.
 Findings stressed the importance of increasing the
diversity of the oral health workforce
 Teaching and exhibiting values that prepare future
dental professionals to commit to oral health care to all
populations, including the underserved.
Social Justice
ADEA Recommendations for Improving Oral
Health of Americans………..How to do this?
 Monitor future workforce needs
 Improve effectiveness of health care delivery system
 Prepare students to provide services to diverse pop.
 Increase the diversity of the workforce
 Improve effectiveness of allied dental professionals in
reaching the underserved (pg. 60)
Role of the DH in addressing social
disparities
 Suggested activities pg. 61
 Safety net clinic
 Local water fluoridation
 School based sealant and fluoride
programs
 Mobile dental vans
 Dental and general health fairs
Dental Community Clinics
The dental hygienist, along with
other health care providers, must
recognize the collective and
individual responsibilities held as
health professionals to address the
oral health needs of the entire
public.
The test of our progress is not whether we
add more to the abundance of those who
have much; it is whether we provide
enough for those who have too little.”
Franklin D. Roosevelt