Riedy Christine A, Ly Kiet A, Ybarra Vickie, Milgrom Peter
Northwest/Alaska Center to Reduce Oral Health Disparities, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195-7475, USA.
Public Health Rep. 2007 Sep-Oct;122(5):592-601. doi: 10.1177/003335490712200506.
Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) contribute greatly to reducing health disparities by providing care to underserved communities. Yet these safety-net clinics face chronic manpower shortages and turnover. Practice-Based Research Networks aid in translating medical science from bench to clinical practice. These networks have been used to understand and improve health-care delivery and reduce disparities. Initiatives to strengthen lagging translational research in dentistry have begun, but there is no FQHC research network that addresses oral health. This article reviews the potential for, and outlines a model of, an Oral Health FQHC Research Network. It characterizes the needs for an FQHC research network, describes a successful FQHC research-oriented program, and outlines an Oral Health FQHC Research Network conceptual model. It argues that strengthening FQHCs through involvement of their dental staff in clinical research may enhance their jobs, draw staff closer to the community, and strengthen their ability to reduce health disparities.
联邦合格健康中心(FQHCs)通过为服务不足的社区提供医疗服务,在减少健康差距方面做出了巨大贡献。然而,这些安全网诊所面临着长期的人力短缺和人员流动问题。基于实践的研究网络有助于将医学科学从实验室转化为临床实践。这些网络已被用于理解和改善医疗服务的提供,并减少差距。加强牙科领域滞后的转化研究的举措已经启动,但尚无解决口腔健康问题的FQHC研究网络。本文回顾了口腔健康FQHC研究网络的潜力,并概述了其模式。它描述了FQHC研究网络的需求,介绍了一个成功的以FQHC研究为导向的项目,并概述了口腔健康FQHC研究网络的概念模型。文章认为,通过让牙科工作人员参与临床研究来加强FQHCs,可能会改善他们的工作,使工作人员更贴近社区,并增强他们减少健康差距的能力。