Eastman International Alliance

The economic and social impact of poor oral health care locally, nationally, and globally is evidenced by limited access to care by specialty trained dentists and poor health outcomes. This is especially true for persons with special needs defined as individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) and/or complex diseases, and those with other complex physical, medical, developmental, and/or cognitive conditions. Persons with special needs experience significant disparities and oral health care access issues due to factors such as deinstitutionalization, increases in life expectancy, lack of appropriately trained providers, insufficient reimbursement for care, and facilities that are inadequately equipped to provide appropriate treatment. These trends have been accompanied by limited changes in dental training to include an emphasis on special needs patients or by the number of clinics willing and able to provide appropriate care. To address these problems, sound solutions rely on strong alliances and expertise and support from communities and policymakers at all levels of society around the world. 

In the early part of the 20^th century, George Eastman knew the vital importance of good oral health, educating dental providers, and the necessity of dental and craniofacial research in serving those less fortunate in our communities. To accomplish this, he donated the funds to establish dental institutions in Rochester, London, Stockholm, Rome and Paris. Over 100 years later these institutions continue to play a vital role in their communities and have an opportunity to forge an alliance, building a global brand, to facilitate access and improve care for persons with special needs across the globe. To do so, we propose linking the existing Eastman Dental institutions, in partnership with Henry Schein, to establish the Eastman International Alliance (EIA).

Mission Statement

The mission of the Eastman International Alliance is:

• To promote the improvement of the oral health of patients with special needs.
• To facilitate access to care for patients with special needs.
• To be an informational resource for patients with special needs.
• To stimulate collaboration in education and research.

Developmental Process and Initial Focus Areas

• EIA will leverage the participating organizations’ interactions, interests, and internal resources in special care to develop a global brand – “Global Theme, Local Context”.
• Link participating institutions through EIA web site identifying local clinical, education and research activities for patients with special needs.
• Plan an EIA conference on Patients with Special Needs.
• Explore education and research collaboration and exchanges.
• Identify possible public and private partnerships. (E.g. Special Olympics).
• Encourage joint EIA institutional receptions at international meetings.

Infrastructure

• Establish an EIA Steering Committee, consisting of representatives from all member institutions, that meets at least quarterly.
• Develop working groups within the steering committee as appropriate.

Possible Future Focus Areas

1. Establish educational exchanges for residents and fellows in special patient care.
2. Expand the EIA website (with multilingual content to facilitate engagement and comprehension) to help patients and families, caregivers, and health care providers to:
   • Communicate (via forum) with experts and other persons with special needs and their families and caregivers to exchange experiences and problems they have faced and continue to face;
   • Access educational and informative articles about persons with special needs and/or complex conditions, written by experts;
   • Request relevant advice from oral health experts;
   • Discover the latest news about oral health-related events, policies, and technological devices relevant for persons with special needs; and
   • Locate contact information for oral health care providers who treat patients with special needs and/or complex conditions.
3. Develop evidence-based clinical guidelines for patients with special needs.
4. Establish international training programs for the treatment of patients with special needs with local institution and EIA certification.
5. Population surveillance.
6. Health promotion and literacy.