Community Participation for Oral Health Promotion & Evaluation

The presentation will describe the past and current situation of community involvement on the promoting of oral health. Based on lesson learned at the community, provincial, and country levels, a coalition to lower sugar consumption among Thai children (the Sweet-Enough networks) and the collaboration on the reduction of tobacco consumption will be two cases for presentation. Emphases on wellness and common risk factor approach rather than specific oral diseases have provided opportunity for dental professionals to join hands with various stakeholders to develop innovative programs to promote health and oral health. An array of innovations and evaluations will be presented. It is also confirmed that building capacity to promote health goes beyond community and health literacy development, into the generation of health promotion capacity in both global and local (‘glo-cal') policy. Based on actions of western food manufacturing and international tobacco industries in Thailand, it is confirmed that “glo-cal” policy is crucial and needed in a concerted effort.

Considering as one of action means to promote health in the Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion, community participation should be broadened into the corporation partnerships among diverse public and private alliances both at the local and global levels as stated in the Bangkok Charter for Health Promotion in a Globalized World.