In January 2023, the WindsorEssex Community Foundation and Green Shield announced a total of $564,000 invested in four local charities to fund critical mental and oral health programs in the Windsor-Essex Community. Funding recipients joined Green Shield and the WECF at the temporary location of the Youth Wellness Hub Windsor-Essex, located at Maryvale, to celebrate this latest investment in community.
As a not-for-profit social enterprise, Green Shield has partnered with leading community organizations across Canada to commit a total of $75 million to social impact initiatives, with a focus on mental health and dental care, between 2020 and 2025. The WindsorEssex Community Foundation is proud to collaborate with Green Shield as a long-standing partner for transformative and innovative local investment.
The Oral Health Education Program has been a successful project for the Windsor Family Health Team and the community their clinic serves. Their oral health team has worked to develop various program pathways that are not duplicative within the local system but meet the needs of the high-priority neighbourhoods served.
The program gives patients the maximum benefit through oral health education, available preventative treatments, oral cancer screening and free oral health provisions. The Oral Health Educator plays an essential role in helping patients access local benefits and support for further oral health care. Patients are provided information on local referral pathways that includes information on local dental clinics, government benefits, subsidies, and other resources.
Since our first patient was seen November 17th, 2022, the Oral Health Education Program has made a significant impact on making oral health realistic for individuals in the Windsor area. During this period, the program has successfully reached 254 individuals.
The program’s success can be attributed to its comprehensive approach, which offers free, accessible services. To ensure program effectiveness, our oral health team has implemented systems that allow Windsor Family Health Team to track and monitor these encounters. This allows the program coordinator to gather valuable data on the impact of the program. A very important aspect of this tracking is through the collection of subjective patient feedback through surveys. Real data from real participants.
Since our inception, the program has received outstanding feedback from the participants. 97% of participants stated they learned something new from participating in the oral health education program. 100% of participants found value in participating in the program, and 100% of participates were satisfied with the information they received from the oral health educator. This feedback not only reflects the programs commitment to delivering high-quality services but also the positive impact is has on the lives of the individuals it serves.
“This was extremely informative and helpful, especially for someone who does not have consistent access to dental care,” shared a program participant.
“I’m very grateful to be able to access this program. I know what I learned will help improve my oral health, which will also positively impact my overall physical health.”
