Oral Care Access Scholar Project Summary:
Planning for an Effective Culturally Competent
Media Campaign in the Bronx, Washington
Heights and East Harlem
Presentation by Ella M. Oong DMD MPH
Geriatric Fellow and Dental Public Health Resident
Harvard School of Dental Medicine
Boston, MA
Outline
 Introduction to Presenter
 Project Description
 Operational Concerns
 Questions and Answers
Project Description
 Specific Aims
 Problem Analysis
 Background
 Methods
 Product
Specific Aims
 To develop the media component of a
strategic communications action plan
addressing the prevention and early
detection of oral cancer for minority
population in New York State utilizing social
marketing techniques
 To develop evaluation criteria for the
effectiveness of the media campaign on the
target population; and
 To develop impact evaluation criteria for the
influence of the media campaign on media
distributors.
Problem Analysis
 Each year more than 30,000 new cases
of oral cancer are diagnosed.
 One American dies from oral cancer
every hour.
 In the US, more than one-half of all oral
and pharyngeal cancers are diagnosed
in the later stages
Problem Analysis
 Minority Health Disparities
 Five year survival rate for Black males is
only 32 % while the rates for Whites is 50%
 Oropharyngeal cancer deaths for Black or
African American males are 4.5 deaths per
100,000 and 2.9 deaths per 100,000 for
Whites
 Only 6 % of adults who have reported
having had an oral cancer examination
were Latino or Hispanic while 12% of those
adults were White
Background
 Oral Health America & ADA Campaigns
 Prior
to 2001
Focus on tobacco cessation and specifically
spit tobacco use
 Use of celebrity figures such as Cal Ripkin, Jr.

 September
2001
Oral cancer awareness campaign
 Features attractive female tongue and
states“Don’t let it grow up to be oral cancer”
 Social marketing with OralCDx

Background
 New York Oral Cancer Consortium
 Bilingual website (www.oral-cancer.org)
 Consumer hotline
 Collaborative partnership with WABC-TV
 Prior media campaign experience in
Massachusetts

Oral Cancer Partnership
 Target audience: males, ages 50 to 70,
underserved
 Radio PSA
Methodology
 Characterizing target audience
 Primary and secondary review
 Identify other culturally competent media
campaigns
 Segmentation by ethnicity, age, knowledge and
attitudes toward health
 Identify resistance points and an apt behavior
change theory
 Establishing production team flow dynamics
 Coordination of complimentary activities among
New York Oral Cancer Consortium members
 Leveraging New York State Department of Health
resources
 Designing media plan
Product
 Media campaign plan which will be a
component of a larger strategic
communications action plan
Operational Concerns
 Cultural competence
 Process
evaluation
 Language capacity
 Tension between academic and
community interests
 Provider training versus population
needs
Questions and Answers
Acknowledgements
 The Santa Fe Group and the American
Dental Trade Association for support in
this endeavor
Oral Care Access Scholar Project Summary:
Planning for an Effective Culturally Competent
Media Campaign Regarding Oral Cancer in New
York State
Presentation by Ella M. Oong DMD MPH
General Practice Resident
Montefiore Dental Center At Jacobi Medical Center
Bronx, NY