The University of Akron’s College of Nursing has been awarded a $1.063 million, three-year grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation for a pilot program that aims to improve the oral health of low-income pregnant women, mothers and children in Summit and Portage counties.

UA is teaming up with the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) to identify mothers interested in taking part in the program. Participants will receive oral health education, referrals to area dentists and services such as fluoride varnishes for the children.

“Oral health is so closely tied to general health that we simply can’t ignore it,” says Dr. N. Margaret Wineman, dean of UA’s College of Nursing. “Providing oral health care to the underserved can narrow a profound existing gap in quality of health between socio-economic classes.”

Dr. Diana Biordi, associate dean of research and graduate programming in UA’s College of Nursing, will manage the interdisciplinary program, which will rely on nurses to provide health care and education and nutritionists to provide nutrition counseling and education. UA nursing faculty members Dr. Marlene Huff and Dr. Peg DiMarco, nationally recognized oral health experts, will be key nurses on the project, while UA family and consumer science professors and dietitians Dr. Deborah Marino and Evelyn Taylor will provide nutrition support to the project. Dr. Peter Leahy, director of public service research and training at UA, will lead an evaluation of the study.

'Next wave of health care'

“The opportunity to establish an interdisciplinary partnership within the university allows our faculty and students to effectively model the next wave of health care,” notes Dr. James Lynn, interim dean of UA’s College of Health Science and Human Services. UA nursing and dietetic students will play a key role in administering the fluoride varnishes and working face-to-face with WIC mothers and children to promote good oral health.

“From a researcher’s perspective, this grant will allow us to gather comprehensive data and track children — especially very young children for whom data are difficult to find — for three and half years,” says Biordi. “But from a practical perspective, by training more nurses and nutritionists to provide oral health services and education, we hope to provide a much needed service and improve the overall health of the poor, who have traditionally been an underserved population.”

About 4,000 children in Summit and Portage counties will have the opportunity to benefit from this pilot program. If successful, program organizers hope to expand the program to other WIC organizations in Ohio and throughout the nation.

About the W.K. Kellogg Foundation

Established in 1930, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation supports children, families and communities as they strengthen and create conditions that propel vulnerable children to achieve success as individuals and as contributors to the larger community and society. Grants are concentrated in the United States, Latin America and the Caribbean, and southern Africa.

About WIC

The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) is a federally funded program that serves low- to moderate-income, pregnant, breastfeeding and postpartum women, infants and children up to age 5 who have a nutrition-related health problem. The program provides a combination of nutrition education, supplemental foods, breastfeeding promotion and support, and referrals to health care.

Media contact: Sarah Lane, 330-972-7429 or slane@uakron.edu.