News
NADP Foundation Issues Its First Grants
By Mike Adelberg, NADP Executive Director
Two and a half years ago, while interviewing for the NADP Executive Director position, I spoke with enthusiasm about reviving the NADP Foundation. The NADP Foundation has existed as a distinct legal entity since the 1990s, but it has been inactive for long stretches of time. In July, I blogged about its revival and the imminent release of the Foundation’s RFP. I promised to blog again about the Foundation when I had more to report. Now, I do.
As a reminder, the mission of the NADP Foundation is “to promote research and education to improve the oral health of the population through access to and the administration of oral health services.” I am not aware of any other foundation solely focused on this important mission, though I certainly acknowledge the good work of other foundations which are working on this topic as a part of a broader focus.
The NADP Foundation is led by a seven-person Board of Directors chaired by Brad Peak of Sun Life with other members coming from the dental benefits industry and academia. I serve on the Board as the Foundation President.
The NADP Foundation’s RFP received nineteen applications. A three-person panel of Foundation Board members evaluated the applications based on the following criteria:
1.) Potential Impact and Significance; Capacity, Feasibility, and Methodology;
2.) Cost-Effectiveness; and
3.) Alignment with NADP Foundation’s mission and objectives.
I am pleased to let you know about the three applicants and projects selected to receive grants:
Charm Economics will develop a white paper that explores the evolving landscape of dental benefits for retirees, examining the differences in coverage pre- and post-Medicare and the increasing trend of Medicare Advantage enrollment. The paper will provide a comprehensive survey of how seniors meet their oral health needs and estimate the number of individuals who remain without coverage. Additionally, it will offer practical recommendations to better address the gaps in coverage, considering the challenges of implementing ambitious new federal programs.
The Children’s Oral Health Network of Maine (COHN) is proud to launch the “From the First Cavity” initiative, a project aimed at improving children’s oral health by empowering trusted community-based partners to support families in effectively managing dental disease. Through this initiative, Community Health Workers, Head Start staff, and other non-clinical allied health staff will partner to design and pilot a targeted parent/caregiver intervention model. The goal is to support parents and caregivers in adopting mouth-healthy habits and caries management strategies following their child’s first caries arrest treatment, with a focus on children receiving minimally invasive care in primary care and preschool settings. By combining evidence-based guidance with a community-centered approach, the project will help prevent disease progression and reduce the need for future restorative and surgical dental treatment. With NADP Foundation’s support, this initiative will lay the groundwork for sustainable solutions to address Maine’s urgent pediatric oral health crisis.
Rady Children’s will utilize the generous grant from NADP Foundation to reduce barriers to dental care for children with chronic health conditions—particularly children who face economic, linguistic, transportation, and other barriers to care—and improve their long-term oral health. Specifically, Rady Children’s will: 1) significantly improve its ability to provide one-on-one support to families facing barriers to oral health care; 2) train primary care providers to become partners in promoting early oral health care practices for pediatric patients; 3) conduct community outreach about the importance of oral health care.
For the grantees, the hard work now begins. But for the Foundation, important work also lies ahead. These three grantees were funded with start-up funds from four NADP member companies. The grantees will need to be successful, and the Foundation will need to disseminate their successes so it has wider impact.
The Foundation will also need to consider whether the mission and the process employed in 2024 merit additional funding and grants in the future. If this is determined to be the case, the Foundation will need to interest others in providing the long-term funding necessary to turn the Foundation into a going concern. This is a daunting but stimulating matter to consider. When we know more about our grantees’ successes, I will blog about the Foundation again.
