1. Social work in dentistry: the CARES model for improving patient retention and access to care.
- Author
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Doris JM, Davis E, Du Pont C, and Holdaway B
- Subjects
- Adult, Aged, Child, Community-Institutional Relations, Education, Dental, Financing, Personal, Humans, Middle Aged, New York, Program Evaluation, Schools, Dental, Socioeconomic Factors, Transportation, United States, Dental Care, Dental Clinics, Health Services Accessibility, Social Work education
- Abstract
Social work programs in dental schools and dental clinics have been operated successfully since the 1940s, and have been documented as contributing to patients' access to care and to dental education. However, unlike medical social work, with which it has much in common, social work in dentistry has failed to become a standard feature of dental schools and clinics. Few of the social work initiatives that have been implemented in dental schools have survived after initial grant funding ran out, or the institutional supporters of the program moved on. The authors hope that the CARES program serves as a model for the successful development of other programs at the intersection of social work and dentistry to the benefit of both dental patients and providers.
- Published
- 2009
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