Evaluation of my program...

I believe to make my plan successful, I will need to re-evaluate my goals about a month after we start the program. I will need to see what works for the kids, and what doesn't, then change accordingly.

I will need to check back with the teachers and make sure that they are enforcing the rule that the kids brush twice at school each day. The teachers have a huge role in my plan. They are the ones that are watching the kids brush, giving them the calendars each month, then rewarding the kids. If they aren't doing their part, the kids probably aren't either!

I will want to check with the teachers and make sure that they have plenty of dental supplies (toothbrushes, toothpaste, etc.). I will want to keep them stocked with supplies so that there are really no excuses for them to keep these kids from having good oral hygiene. The companies might even be able to put us on a permanent shipment list where they could send us supplies every 3 or 6 months. The teachers will also need to have plenty of calendars and stickers for each month. I think that if they have the supplies-they might be more willing to continue the program.

Somehow, I will need to check back with the parents to be sure that they are still encouraging their kids to have good oral hygiene habits. Maybe after the dentist sees them, we could send home a note telling them something positive about their childs oral hygiene, then tell them what we need to work on. I need to keep the parents involved in this whole process for it to be a success!

I will need to make sure that the dentists are coming to Head Start on their scheduled days, and be sure that that they have what they need and are still willing to help. Maybe we could have the kids do something nice for the dentists (like a big card or something) to thank the dentist for volunteering his/her time, Even dentists need positive reenforcement! ha ha ha

I may even want to get back with the kids to congratulate them on working so hard on brushing their teeth--then kind of have another little pep-rally to get the kids excited to continue working on thier oral hygiene. I would hope that after one month, the kids would probably already be in a habbit of doing it--but a little bit of positive reenforcement probably wouldn't hurt either!

I am not really sure what I was supposed to say this week in evaluating my plan, but I think that my plan could really work. Let me know if you have any suggestions!

Program Implementation Considerations...

My goal is to help Head Start children to have better oral health. I believe that these kids are being neglected when it comes to oral hygiene. I would like to implement a program that would allow these kids to form habits and enjoy oral hygiene.

Objectives/Activities:
* I would like to educate these kids. I believe that these kids are maybe not taking care of their teeth because they don't know of the importance. I would like to make this education fun and rewarding for the children.
* I also need to educate the parents! They can be the one's to remind the kids to brush at home.
* I would like to be able to reinforce this program at school by having the children brush after the two meals that they eat at school.
* I would like to have fun calendars for each one of the kids. They would be able to put a sticker on the calendar after brushing. At the end of the week, the kids could take their calendars (home and school) to the teacher and the kid who brushed their teeth the most times that week would get to wear a ribbon on their shirt for the whole day. This would make them feel proud to be the winner (and also have better oral hygiene habits).
* We could throw a party at the end of the month if our goal for better oral hygiene is met (check on brushing calendars).
* It would be good to have a dentist come to the Head Start Program and do free sealant's, or exams once every couple of months. This way, we could ensure that the kids are given the care that they need.
* I would like to have supplies donated. We would need oral hygiene aids for each child to have at home and at school. I would want to have bright toothbrushes with graphic's that the kids would like, fun flavored toothpaste, and flossing aids (because their little fingers might not be able to get in the hard to reach spots).

Implementation:
In order to carry out my goal, I will need support from many others! I can not do this alone!
* I will need to have some kind of meeting with the parents. In this meeting, I could show them pictures or poor oral health, quote them prices for dental work, and encourage them to help their children have better oral hygiene. I would tell them my plan with the calendars and ask for their help.
* I will also hold a meeting with the teachers. I am going to have the children brush after the two meals at school--but this needs to be reinforced by the teachers! The teachers need to feel that their role is very important--because most of this program for better oral health is going to be taking place at school.
* For the calendars, I would maybe call around to different companies and see if they have something like this already formed. If not, I could create one, then have them color copied. I might need some donations for this--or see if it could come out of the school funding.
* As for the dentist, I would need to call around to some dentists in the area and see if any of them are interested in doing charity for these children once a year (then if I had a couple of different dentists, they would be able to rotate).
* I would need to call different companies (Crest, Oral-B, etc.) to see if they would be willing to donate toothbrushes, toothpaste, fluoride and floss. They might even be able to donate the supplies that the dentist will need when he comes!

I feel that this can really work! I believe that if these kids have positive reinforcement and rewards, they will be more willing to participate in my plan. They won't see this as improving their oral health, but actually having fun and getting stickers, ribbons and parties. But in the meantime, they will have formed habits which will improve their oral health over a longer time period.

Plan of Action...

I would like to do many things to help these Head Start kids. I think that one of the most important things is to make oral hygiene fun and rewarding. I don't think that it is enough for a dental hygienist to go into Head Start, tell they what they should be doing, then leave and not follow-up. Kids won't do something unless they have to--or want to.

My goal is to set an example for these kids so that they will want to have good oral hygiene. I would like to go into Head Start and talk with the kids to find out what their knowledge of oral hygiene is--then I will know how to better address them.
Well, I basically already know that nothing is being done to help these kids at home from what I saw when I volunteered there--so I guess we need to start at school.

I would like to have reward charts for each child. They could have one for home brushing and one for school brushing. Everytime they brushed, they could put a sticker on thier chart. At the end of the month (or week), they would get bigger rewards for the more brushing they did. I don't really think that the rewards should be some kind of candy--maybe a book, pencil, or just a ribbon that they could wear on thier shirts...(that would be something that they would be proud of and want to "show-off" to their peers).

I would also want the kids to be able to brush at school. I know that a lot of times, these kids are eating atleast two meals a day at school--so why don't we brush after!? I also think that I would need donations for all of this to take place. I would need toothbrushes, toothpaste (in a good flavor for kids), and other hygiene aids. I can't expect them to have good oral hygiene if they don't have any of the materials!

I will want to do follow-up's with the kids (or have the teachers do the follow-up's), to make sure that they don't loose the excitement for good oral hygiene! I really believe that a few little things can make a huge difference.

I would also like to somehow get the parents more involved--other than with the at home brushing charts. The parents need to support their kids in this attempt to improve thier oral hygiene. If anyone has any ideas, please let me know.

Keep kids healthy....

I think that I am kind of getting the hang of what I am supposed be doing with this assignment, but if anyone (Kami) has any ideas, please let me know!!!

I am doing research on keeping kids teeth healthy! Sounds easy, eh!? Well, not so! Ha ha ha. A year or so ago, I had a chance to volunteer at the Head Start program in Ogden. It was sure an eye opener for me! I couldn’t believe how these “low-income” kids are being neglected at home. I seemed to me that they were coming to school to learn how to eat healthy meals, to wash their hands, brush their teeth, etc. I was a little surprised how much we were really teaching these kids. From what I remember from my childhood, it was my parents that were showing me how to do these things! But these kids were really not being taken care of in their homes—so we did it at school! These kids had no motivation at home to brush their teeth (among other things) and as a result, most all of them had been through a lot of dental work to fix what could have been prevented. Anyways, I am really interested in figuring out a way to help kids in situations similar to this.

I found a website called Keep Kids Healthy (I tried to hyperlink this, but for some reason it isn't working. But the web site is www.keepkidshealthy.com). I goes through the steps of dental care in ages and what needs to be done. It also has some question/answer sections. This was by far my favorite site that I found! It really had a lot of information about kids dental health and building a healthy future for our children. Now I just need to figure out how I am going to be able to gather more information and then put it all together in one idea to influence these kids (and their parents)!

If anyone has any ideas for me—please let me know. I look forward to your comments!

Surfing update...

I had some time to look through some different websites and was really surprised how much information is really out there. I was able to find all sorts of information to do with oral health. I liked the Nathe site because it had a lot of good comparisons to do with different states and the actual numbers that are involved with dentists, fluoride, etc. I am excited to continue my reasearch on the web. It seems like there is a lot of information out there--we just have to find it. I am really interested in doing more research regarding diet and hygiene for children in low income homes. I will have to keep you posted as to what I find.