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Our Program
The Educational Community Health Outreach (ECHO) program was one of 13 Local Dental Pilot Projects (LDPP) funded through the California Department of Health Care Services. Our LDPP represented a partnership between the Rongxiang Xu College of Health and Human Services at Cal State LA and the USC Herman Ostrow School of Dentistry of the University of Southern California, with collaboration from the University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (UCEDD) at Children's Hospital Los Angeles, and other community organizations and schools throughout the greater Los Angeles region.
Our Goals
Our project was designed to promote the oral health of children and youth ages 0-20 in Los Angeles. This included:
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Increasing access to dental care for children and youth by connecting families to dental providers and addressing barriers to oral health;
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Educating families and community stakeholders about oral health; and
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Advocating for oral health equity in Los Angeles County
Our Services
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Oral health screenings
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Personalized oral health education for children, youth, and families
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Recommendations for dental homes
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Connections to community resources for families
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Training for professionals in health and human services
Our Approach
We believed in working with families and communities in partnership. We approached oral health in an interdisciplinary, culturally-responsive, strengths-based manner that considers the whole child, whole family, and whole community perspective. We believed that health, social, and educational disparities are influenced by the contexts and conditions of daily life.
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Interdisciplinary – We adopted an approach that includes multiple perspectives to promote oral health, including child development, communication disorders, nutrition, public health, and nursing.
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Culturally Responsive – We sought to approach our work in a way that values and leverages the culture and cultural resources of the families we serve.
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Strengths-Based – We recognized that all families have capacities and are "experts in their own lives."
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Whole child, Whole family, Whole community – We considered the broader context that helps to shape oral health and oral health behaviors.
