Member Update
May 1 – July 31, 2013
Ends (Mission/Purpose)
CDHA exists so that its members are able to provide quality preventive and therapeutic oral health care as well as health promotion for the Canadian public.
1. Public Recognition
Members’ value is recognized by the Canadian public.
• The series of feature articles distributed in March via News Canada has now generated 169 articles in community newspapers and national daily papers across Canada reaching an audience of 23,451,000. This is a huge increase over last year’s 12 month result of 79 articles reaching 3 million readers.
• We issued one media releases this quarter, jointly with NLDHA, on the new self-regulation legislation in Newfoundland and Labrador. The release was picked up by the Health News Network and the Oral Health Group and generated a radio interview with Coast 101.1FM
• CDHA members appeared in 10 news articles this quarter including Cape Breton Post, 250News BC, Edmonton Journal, Peace Arch News (BC), Watertown Daily Times, Hamilton Spectator, University of Ottawa Gazette, Dalhousie News, Kingston This Week and the Calgary Herald. Article themes included: Mobile dental hygiene practice (x3), DH volunteering in free comm A media interview was arranged for Sandy Lawlor with Walmart’s Live Better Magazine.
• Our 50th anniversary announcement was posted on Crest/Oral B’s dentalcare website (both Canadian and US versions)
Social Media
Facebook Fans / +656 this Quarter(656 year*TD) / Lifetime Total = 7117 (2013/14 Goal: 9000)
Twitter Followers / +201 this Quarter
(201 YTD) / Lifetime Total = 2174 2013/14 Goal: 2500)
*year as defined by our fiscal year May 1 – April 30
• Facebook insights: Total reach for quarter almost six million. Engagement (number of likes, shares, comments) 138,353. Most popular Facebook stories with reach above 5,000 per post (our usual average is 2,000) were posts about the value of dental hygienists (16,000 reach – our highest ever) with a 1,000 likes, comments and shares, a request for assistance on a student survey (reach 6,000) and a conversation on dental hygiene salaries (reach 6,000). One of these posts is a great illustration of extended reach to the public. The original post on the value of DH received 199 likes, 7 comments and 231 shares. Once shared (beyond our page and members) the likes jumped to 722, there were 44 more comments and five more shares.
We are 85% towards our Facebook Challenge goal of 9,000 fans.
• Twitter statistics: Total number of lifetime tweets: 9,508 (+708 this quarter). Number of RTs last three months: 100 Number of mentions in last three months: 100. The communications team for the new Minister of Health, Rona Ambrose, began following us on Twitter.
• An Online Community Code of Conduct and Policies has been developed to ensure the integrity of all our communities (social media and forums and listserves).
• Angie D’Aoust, Director of Marketing & Communications served as the keynote speaker at the MDHA AGM in June to deliver a presentation on social media. She also hosted a social media mini-table presentation at the CRDHA continuing education event in May.
Angie hosting breakfast mini-spot on Social Media
• NDHW wrap up: Colouring contest winners were determined and received their prize packages. Winners were chosen for the Show Us Your NDHW contest. Congratulations to Saskatchewan
Institute of Applied Science and Technology (SIAST) for best photo and to Vancouver College of Dental Hygiene (VCDH) for best activity. Mark your calendars for NDHW™ 2014 - April 6-12.
• Run for the Cure CDHA multisite team has been set up and promotions launched. We had set a fundraising goal of $50,000 in honour of our 50th anniversary (previous totals were $33,000 and $38,000) but this may be difficult to reach since many of our usual run team leaders and participants will be away from home for the CDHA conference on the day of this year’s run and may not be taking part.
• Work was well underway to revamp and rebrand the old public facing Oral Care Centre area of the website which is going to be re-launched as www.dentalhygienecanada.ca.
• Web visits this quarter: 74,493 (+27% over same quarter last year).
• 44% of visitors continue to be newcomers
• Most popular page continues to be Home page with 46,968 views, followed by Career search page and My Courses and Webinars which experienced a 91% increase in visits over same quarter last year.
• Top PDF downloads from our site: webinar quick start guide, NDHW colouring sheet and CDHA service codes.
• Google searches continue to be our most popular referral source 38,532 redirects this quarter, up 13% over same period last year. Direct referrals, 31,380 for the quarter are also up 49%. Facebook referrals (2,092) experienced continued growth by 180% Top PDF downloads: CDHA Service Codes and Quick Start Webinar Guide.
Dental Industry Awards
The deadline for applications for the dental industry sponsored awards was extended to June 30. The following are the award winners for this year:
Oral Health Promotion Awards, offered in participation with Crest Oral-B
v Individual Category: Ambreen Khan, BC
v Clinic Category: Anthea Chang and Portable Ottawa Dental Service, ON
v Dental Hygiene School Category : Vancouver College of Dental Hygiene , BC
Achievement Award, offered in participation with SUNSTAR G*U*M: Ashley Corsiatto, AB Excellence in Teaching Award, offered in participation with DENTSPLY: Jennifer Turner, ON
Visionary Award, offered in participation with TD Insurance Meloche Monnex: Laura Perri, ON
Global Health Initiative Award, offered in participation with SUNSTAR G*U*M: Michelle Ediger, AB
CJDH Research Award, offered in participation with Crest Oral-B: Susanne Sunell, Rae McFarlane, Heather Biggar BC
Leadership Award, offered in participation with DENTSPLY: Jeremy Huynh AB
A review of the recognition program has taken place and recommendations will be made before negotiations for partner agreements takes place for next year.
2. Public Policy Environment
Public policy barriers are reduced to ensure members can practise as primary health care providers. (*as defined in BCHDA – Position statement Primary Health Care Release 1 (March 2010)
Advocacy in the North
A grassroots advocacy kit was developed to be sent to all members in the North. This includes an issue paper on legislative amendments in northern Canada. Letters were sent to all MPs in the North regarding access to care for DH services.
Mouthguard Advocacy
A toolkit has been completed and will be sent to all national and provincial sports organizations.
Letter to Federal Health Committee
CDHA sent a letter to the Federal Health Committee in response to the June 2013 Report of the
Standing Committee on Health, Technological Innovation in Health Care. CDHA is urged the Government of Canada to take a lead role and implement key recommendations outlined in this report.
New Minister of Health
CDHA sent a letter to the new Federal Health Minister, Rona Ambrose
Development of competencies for the bachelor’s degree in DH
An email was sent to all CDHA members on May 30 and June 7, 2013 inviting them to participate in the ‘Seeking Experts in the Profession’. Survey was closed on June 11, 2013 with 642 responses. From these respondents, the contractor and her committee will select 30-40 members to participate in the next phase of the project - the Delphi Survey.
Advocacy Meetings
• Met with MP Dennis Beddington from Northwest Territories. He was extremely supportive of changes to dental hygiene legislation in the north. In fact, he followed up with a letter to all the northern provincial health ministers describing the barriers to care for northern residents and the outdated legislation in the north.
• Attended Canadian Association of Public Health Dentistry (CAPHD), Policy Advisory Committee. Agenda items included discussion of release of the Canadian Oral Health Strategy and the development of an Oral Health Position Statement. CDHA will volunteer to sit on the policy advisory committee for another term. Committee is very interested in CDHA regulatory authority chart.
• Attended CCPH21 meeting included presentation from Dr. David Butler Jones speaking about the state of public health in Canada followed by a discussion of the promotional video “Public Health is a Return on Investment”.
• Attended Health Action Lobby (HEAL) meeting, where we discussed the role of the Federal Government in Health and Health Care, Re-framing the Federal Role in health and health care, Council of the Federation, pre-budget submission dialogue and evidenced-informed healthcare renewal.
• Attended CCAT meeting in May with Health Canada, Controlled Substances and Tobacco Directorate (CSTD).Government officials in Tobacco control. Agenda items included international trade agreements, illegal sales and flavoured and e-cigarettes.
Water Fluoridation
Sarnia water fluoridation issue – CDHA sent a letter of support for water fluoridation. We also sent notice of the meeting to members in the area, with a link to our position statement and Q&A on water fluoridation to members living in the area and encouraged them to attend the meeting.
3. Professional Practice
Members have the resources to work independently and inter-professionally.
*interprofessional practice is defined as client-centered care that involves working collaboratively with members of other health and social care professionals.
Dental Hygienists on staff fielded questions about independent practice and/or independent contracting. The dental hygienists at CDHA endeavour to refer members to the information available on the website, but on many occasions, they wish to speak to a “live” person. In general the key questions include:
1. School and program closures (they were referred to the Ministry as well). We have been asked for assistance with student applications for transfers to other schools.
2. A number of foreign trained dental hygienists enquired about relocating to Canada and CDHA was contacted by several Canadians hoping to work abroad.
3. Spoke with members who have had difficulties with temporary staffing agencies. Some of these businesses demonstrate a less than professional standard in their dealings with personnel using their services. It is obviously an unregulated sector.
4. Short notice terminations, reduction in work hours or pay, overly restrictive employment contracts accounted for a significant number of calls.
5. Independent dental hygienists continue to seek advice on fees, codes, procedures and advertising and marketing. We also received copies of dentist’s communications to their patients about the “risks” of visiting a dental hygiene practice. This is most prevalent in Ontario and we do make the CDHO aware of this.
Met with Joan Weir from Medavie Blue Cross to discuss issues, codes and potential for e-claims. Medavie Blue Cross is the carrier for Veterans Affairs Current numbers stand at:
• UIN: 870
• CDHAnet: 217 dental hygienists in 175 offices
• ExpressScripts: 39
• Independent practice community: 806
CDHA is reviewing questions for the 2013 Job Market and Employment Survey. We have asked the provincial ED’s for suggestions on questions to be included.
CDHA negotiated the terms for the new Employee and Family Assistance Program, which will be launched as a new member benefit effective November 1, 2013. This free, confidential counselling and wellness service for members and their eligible family members is provided through Homewood Human Solutions™ and offers a broad range of personal, work-related, health and family counselling services and resources over the phone or online. This program will include:
• Electronic and telephonic counselling services
• Case management and referrals to specialized services
• Plan smart counselling and specialty services
• Childcare and parenting
• Elder and family care
• New parent outreach
• Busy family (online child/eldercares services locator)
• Legal advisory
• Financial advisory
• Career smart e- and telephonic counselling services
• Career development
• Pre-retirement planning
• Shift worker support
• Conflict counselling and resolution
• Access to online services
• Health and wellness companion
• 20 e-learning courses
• Health change planning
• Health library
• HR resource library
• Value added
• Key person advice line
• member orientation sessions at event or conference
• 24/7 access to client services centre
• Promotional materials (brochures, posters, etc.)
• Provides access to a benefit that the majority of members don’t have at their workplace.
• Provides members with resources that can help them resolve their individual, marital, family and job performance problems.
• Provides members with the resources they need to deal with the increasing demands on their work and personal lives. This has a positive impact on lowering absenteeism, disability and drug claim costs.
• Referrals to legal advice, financial advice, elder and family care, etc.
• Career planning services support member’s personal and professional career objectives. Whether they need help fine tuning career plans, are struggling to manage time effectively, or are taking on a new role at work, they can help.
• Can help members with workplace issues counselling. CDHA receives many calls from members on workplace issues.
• Homewood Human Solutions is the only provider in the industry offering members and their family members, access to self -paced, interactive and confidential e-Learning courses addressing:
a) personal issues such as stress, mood, alcohol use, relationships, resilience, and money matters
b) workplace issues managers and supervisors may be facing, including change management, supervision training, job transitions, and ethics in business
• Each confidential e-Learning course offers printable information; quizzes and exercises where relevant, printable action planning guides that can be customized to allow members to input their own scenarios and goals.
• The Health and Wellness Companion is a comprehensive self-guided, self-development program that is designed to provide a personal plan of action. Participation in a series of Health Risk Assessments gives the opportunity to: evaluate current health, get a better understanding of personal health risk factor(s) and create a personal health improvement program.
• The childcare and eldercare locators enable members to conduct their own customized search for childcare or eldercare resources. Members can search for daycares, homecare, day camps, overnight camps and much more. The eldercare function provides access to national resources for the elderly, including homecare assessments, long term facilities, assistive care facilities, and facilities geared toward specific health care needs or cultural preferences.