{
  "abstract": "Background Childhood dental caries (tooth decay) is a worldwide public health problem where health inequalities are abundant. In England, 25% of 5-year-old children experience dental caries, rising to 40% in the most deprived areas. Planning effective oral health interventions tailored to the needs of the community are of primary importance. Part of this planning needs to consider how local communities will engage with oral health activities. However, although the literature recognises the importance of community engagement when developing oral health activities, no research to date has explored how ready communities are to engage in addressing the problem of oral health in children. The Community Readiness Model (CRM) provides a methodological approach to quantify community awareness and engagement, thereby informing the design of future programmes. This study aims to explore the dynamics that affect community readiness to address the issue of children’s oral health.Methods This mixed method study undertook semi-structured CRM interviews with key community leaders across three cities in the Yorkshire and Humber region of England. Quantitative readiness scores were calculated to place each community in one of nine possible stages of readiness. Qualitative analysis of the transcripts used a framework approach to provide textual information to support the readiness scores.Results An overall score consistent with the Preparation stage of readiness was achieved for two of the cities, suggesting leaders are actively planning how to address children’s oral health and that the community offers modest support for such efforts. The third city’s score reflected the Vague awareness stage of readiness, suggesting there is local concern about children’s oral health, but no immediate motivation to act. Although all three cities were actively promoting good oral health for children to varying levels through various services, these were not always accessible, and what differentiated the cities in readiness level came down to three key factors: funding, leadership and partnership, and community engagement.Conclusion This study is the first to use the CRM to examine oral health. Findings suggest that while there are many different oral health programmes in each of these cities, the community are often unaware of them. Therefore, a focus on communicating with the community is a priority to maximise engagement and uptake. As such, the CRM method provides important findings which can help direct policymakers and community leaders to maximise the impact of oral health programmes in these cities.",
  "authors": [
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "School of Dentistry, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK"
      ],
      "name": "Kara Gray-Burrows"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Better Start Bradford, Better Start Bradford, Bradford, UK"
      ],
      "name": "Sarah Burn"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "School of Clinical Dentistry, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK"
      ],
      "name": "Yasmen Elsadek"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "School of Dentistry, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK"
      ],
      "name": "Katherine Kaczmarczyk"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "School of Dentistry, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK"
      ],
      "name": "Sakina Edwebi"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Bradford Institute for Health Research, Bradford Institute for Health Research, Bradford, UK"
      ],
      "name": "Shahid Islam"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Bradford Institute for Health Research, Bradford Institute for Health Research, Bradford, UK"
      ],
      "name": "Rachael Moss"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "School of Clinical Dentistry, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK"
      ],
      "name": "Zoe Marshman"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "School of Dentistry, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK",
        "Bradford Community Dental Service, Bradford District Care Trust, Bradford, UK"
      ],
      "name": "Peter Day"
    }
  ],
  "title": "P51 Community readiness for child oral health improvement across three cities in the Yorkshire and Humber region of the UK",
  "uid": "2faed274-9f44-5c66-8ba2-0b10980dfff9"
}