Grant Granted to EIOH for Examination of HIV/AIDS Co-occurring Conditions and Obstacles to Treatment
The Eastman Institute for Oral Health (EIOH), part of the University of Rochester Medical Center, has been awarded a grant for a first-of-its-kind U.S. study. Led by Dr. Sangeeta Gajendra, DDS, MPH, MS, Community Dentistry Clinical Chief at EIOH, and Scott McIntosh, PhD, professor at the University of Rochester's School of Medicine and Dentistry, the study will focus on addressing a longstanding problem in people living with HIV/AIDS who have psychiatric and dental comorbidities.
The study, titled "Addressing Dental and Psychiatric Comorbidities: Screening and Referrals of HIV/AIDS Patients," will be led by a multi-disciplinary team from the University of Rochester departments of Dentistry, Public Health Sciences, Psychiatry, and Internal Medicine.
Previous studies have identified barriers to dental care in this population, including ability to pay, dental anxiety, and transportation. The new study aims to investigate these factors further, as well as patient self-management strategies, patient perception of case management, comorbidity prevalence, and patient and staff perceptions of successful referral factors.
The study is funded by the National Institute for Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR), an organisation that emphasises improving AIDS care, healthcare provider training, and healthcare delivery systems, particularly with regard to mental health and craniofacial research. This suggests that the study will likely aim to identify and characterize the prevalence, impact, and potential treatment pathways for dental conditions co-occurring with psychiatric conditions in this population.
The ultimate goal of the study is to connect people living with HIV/AIDS to a dental home and to mental health services, aiming to improve their quality of life. Patients, HIV program directors, case managers, and administrators are key stakeholders in understanding patients living with HIV or AIDS' use of dental and mental health services.
By exploring these interlinked comorbidities, the study led by Gajendra and McIntosh would contribute to developing more effective interdisciplinary clinical protocols and support systems for these patients. No direct summary or results of the study have been released yet, but further detailed outcomes might be published in specialized medical or dental research publications or NIDCR reports in the near future.
The new study, led by Dr. Sangeeta Gajendra and Scott McIntosh, will delve into the interconnected issues of dental health and mental health in individuals living with HIV/AIDS. By investigating patient self-management strategies, perceptions of case management, and prevalence of comorbidities, the research aims to develop more comprehensive interdisciplinary clinical protocols and support systems in the realms of nutrition, health-and-wellness, mental-health, and science.
