Progress Report

Follow-up Activities to EHS/HS State/Territorial Oral Health Forums

State/Territory: North Carolina

Person submitting report: Kelly Haupt, RDH, MHA

Phone: 919-707-5485
Email: Kelly.haupt@ncmail.net
Date: January 22, 2008

Activities originally proposed and how they relate to action plan:

The Forum Follow-up Action Plan included training for Early Head Start (EHS) staff in basic
oral health information using a newly developed classroom curriculum that includes parent
education. We feel that an important step in this training is a formal evaluation of the EHS
curriculum materials, and the Guilford Child Development (GCD) EHS agreed to assist us in this
endeavor by serving as a pilot site for training and curriculum field testing. After testing and
revisions, the curriculum is to be reproduced and distributed to the remaining 17 NC EHS
Programs as well as undergoes translation by the East Coast Migrant Head Start Program
(ECMHSP).

Activities accomplished:
On January 23, 2007 in partnership with the UNC School of Public Health, Kelly Haupt and
Research Associate Leslie Zeldin conducted a 3 hour session with teachers and staff from the
Guilford Child Development Early Head Start Program. The session included information
requested by teachers about early childhood oral health, as well as training on the newly
developed oral health curriculum. Teachers were instructed to use the curriculum in their
classrooms during February, March, and April, and provide feedback in May.
On May 17, 2007 Kelly Haupt, Leslie Zeldin, Bhavna Pahel (a dentist, health educator, and
current PhD student in the School of Public Health), and Valerie Hooks (GCD Oral Health
Initiative Coordinator) conducted four focus groups of teachers and staff to gather feedback on
the EHS Oral Health Curriculum. Four of the eight modules were completed as time and other
restrictions limited complete testing that day.

Immediate outcomes:
Curriculum testing report attached

Additional follow-up activities planned:

Testing of the final four modules is scheduled for April, 2008. Limited opportunities to schedule
blocks of time with teachers and staff to conduct focus groups has resulted in the process taking
longer than anticipated. When the testing phase is complete, the Oral Health Section will revise
the curriculum based on the gathered feedback. At that point the ECMHSP will translate the
curriculum for its centers and families, and the remaining 17 NC EHS Programs will receive the
curriculum along with training in its use.

Need for additional resources to accomplish additional activities:

In addition to sponsorship from ASTDD, HRSA has provided resources through its SOHCS
grant program for this activity. SOHCS funding provided for the curriculum development, and
NC has requested SOHCS year 3 carryover funds for printing the curriculum and travel required
for training the NC EHS Programs. The process of curriculum development, testing, and
distribution has taken longer than originally anticipated due to unforeseen circumstances
involving not only scheduling with GCD, but delays in filling vacant NC Oral Health Section
staff positions. Therefore I am submitting this as a provisional report, and will submit a final
report when the curriculum testing and distribution is complete.

Budget Explanation:
How ASTDD funds were used:
All funds have been/will be used for the EHS curriculum training, testing, and revising.
Additional funds for printing the curriculum and training the NC EHS Programs will be provided
through the NC Oral Health Section’s SOHCS grant.