Despite its proven effectiveness at promoting oral health in a safe, cost-effective, and equitable manner, water fluoridation cannot win on its scientific merits alone. Unfounded claims and half-truths promoted by a very small but vocal, well-organized minority opposed to water fluoridation have prompted a longstanding, heated political discourse. Health Resources in Action (HRiA) has piloted an integrated approach, based on social marketing and community mobilization, to increase the number of New England communities accessing fluoridated water.

In 2012, with the support of the DentaQuest Foundation, HRiA began a multi-year project to design, implement, and provide strategic counsel to two community water fluoridation campaigns. HRiA collaborated with statewide oral health coalitions, local coalitions (the Upper Valley Oral Health Coalition in Vermont and the Greater Brockton Healthcare Alliance in Massachusetts), and community organizers; the goal was to help the coalitions expand their own capabilities by tapping into community stakeholders, policymakers, and opinion leaders with messages that resonated with the communities to promote the public health benefits of water fluoridation in their communities. In Brockton, MA,the group gained support for fluoridation from over 20 local organizations and hundreds of residents, and in Hartford, VT, HRiA supported community members in testifying in front of the Board of Selectmen.

As a culmination of this work, HRiA is excited to announce the release of Community Toolkit: Preserving and Implementing Water Fluoridation in Your Community. The toolkit helps communities develop effective communication messages, identify and work with allies, and gain community support. This web-based toolkit is designed for community members, coalitions, and anyone else who is working to implement or promote water fluoridation.

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Representative list of clients

Coalitions

  • Black Ministerial Alliance of Greater Boston
  • Boston Collaborative for Food & Fitness
  • Youth Workers Alliance

Federal Government

  • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
  • Office of the U.S. Surgeon General/Medical Reserve Corps
  • U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Foundations and Bank Trusts

  • Bank of America Merrill Lynch
  • Hilda and Preston Davis Foundation
  • The Klarman Family Foundation
  • Paso del Norte Health Foundation
  • Richard and Susan Smith Family Foundation
  • Virginia Healthy Youth Foundation
  • Williamsburg Community Health Foundation

Health Care

  • Boston Medical Center
  • Bowdoin Street Health Center
  • Brigham and Women’s Hospital
  • Boston Children’s Hospital
  • Dana Farber Cancer Institute
  • Massachusetts General Hospital

International

  • Ontario Lung Association (Canada)
  • Caribbean Development Bank (Trinidad and Tobago)
  • Yayasan Mendaki (Singapore)

Non-Profit Organizations

  • AIDS Action Committee
  • Bexar County Community Health Collaborative
  • Boys and Girls Clubs of Boston
  • Cambridge Community Television
  • Catholic Charities
  • Methodist Health Care Ministries
  • Patient Centered Outcomes Research Initiative
  • Providence After School Alliance
  • Sociedad Latina
  • United Way
  • YWCA of Greater Boston

State and Local Government

    • Alabama Department of Mental Health
    • Boston Public Health Commission
    • Connecticut Department of Public Health
    • Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
    • Massachusetts Department of Public Health
    • Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training
    • Virginia Department of Health
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2015 Board of Directions

Carole Allen, MD
Arlington, MA

Philip Caper, MD
Columnist, Bangor Daily News, Portland, ME

Mary Fifield
President, Mary Fifield Associates, Portland, ME

Lori Fresina
Senior Vice President, M + R Strategic Services, Woburn, MA

Peter Hiam, Esq
Cambridge, MA

Maria Kieslich
VP of Operations, TeenLife Media, LLC, Brookline, MA

Eric Kramer, PhD
Jamaica Plain, MA

Joan Quinlan, MPA
Executive Director, Center for Community Health Improvement, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA

Thaleia Tsongas Schlesinger, RN
President, Schlesinger & Associates, Boston, MA

Harry P. Selker, MD, MSPH
Dean, Tufts Clinical and Translational Science Institute
Executive Director, Institute for Clinical Research & Health Policy Studies
Tufts Medical Center, Boston, MA

Miles Shore, MD
Bullard Professor of Psychiatry, Emeritus, Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, MA

Harriet Tolpin, PhD
Dean Emerita, Simmons College, Boston, MA

Nelson Valverde, MBA
President and CEO, Invalsa Coffee®, West Newbury, MA

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Health Resources in Action
95 Berkeley Street, Boston, MA 02116 – 617.451.0062 (f) – 617.451.0007
Main Switchboard: 617.451.0049
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