Ellen Daley, PhD, MPH

Women’s Health Traditionally:

Dichotomized between reproductive and non-reproductive issues

Approached from a limited perspective by discipline (e.g. biomedical, psychological, social science, etc.)

Resulting in “siloed” clinical care and research

Influence by women’s social, cultural, political, and economic environments across the lifespan.

The Oral/Systemic Connection Women’s oral/systemic health conditions can be

categorized as follows:

Health conditions that are specific to women where systemic conditions impact oral health (e.g. pregnancy, menopause, etc.)

Systemic health conditions that are caused or exacerbated by poor oral health conditions (e.g. periodontal disease and heart disease)

Oral manifestations resultant of a range of behavioral issues more common among women (e.g. eating disorders and resulting oral conditions)

Oral/Systemic Connection Examples of Oral/Systemic Women’s Health Conditions

System Oral Oral System Behavioral Oral

Systemic health conditions that result in oral issues

Systemic health issues that result from oral conditions (e.g. gingivitis)

Behavioral issues and conditions that have oral manifestations

Pregnancy Infant feeding practices Eating disorders Diabetes Heart disease Menopause Osteoporosis

Preeclampsia Gestational diabetes Preterm birth Low infant birth weight Congenital oral defects Respiratory problems Diabetes Stroke Heart Disease

Eating disorders Intimate partner violence Substance use/abuse Poor nutrition Smoking Stress

Women’s Oral/Systemic Health

We’ve come to believe that the link between women’s systemic and oral health

across the lifespan necessitates

a transdisciplinary approach to

research, practice, and policy.

What does multidisciplinary mean? “Multidisciplinarity is a process in which scholars from disparate fields

work independently or sequentially, periodically coming together to share their individual perspectives for purposes of achieving broader-gauged analyses of common research problems. Participants in multidisciplinary teams remain firmly anchored in the concepts and methods of their respective fields.”

(Stokols, Hall, Taylor, and Moser, 2008)

Public

Health Medicine Dentistry

What does interdisciplinary mean? “Interdisciplinarity is a

more robust approach to scientific integration in the sense that team members not only combine or juxtapose concepts and methods drawn from their different fields, but also work more intensively to integrate their divergent perspectives, even while remaining anchored in their own respective fields.”

(Stokols, Hall, Taylor, and Moser, 2008)

Social Work

Sociology

Psychology

Public Health

Nursing

Library Science

Dentistry

Communication

Anthropology

Medicine

Women’s Health

Interdisciplinary Research

What does transdisciplinary mean? “Transdisciplinarity is a process in which team members representing

different fields work together over extended periods to develop shared conceptual and methodologic frameworks that not only integrate but also transcend their respective disciplinary perspectives.”

(Stokols, Hall, Taylor, and Moser, 2008)

Anthropology

Dentistry

Sociology

Communication

Nursing

Medicine

Social Work

Women’s Studies

Public Health

Psychology

Library Science

What does transdisciplinary mean? Disciplinary

Multidisciplinary

Interdisciplinary

Transdisciplinary

Moving from multidisciplinary to transdisciplinary research

Transdisciplinary Research Exercise

Congratulations! You have just received a $25,000 grant that has to have an interdisciplinary basis.

Your group’s task: come up with specific aims for your research.

Follow-Up Discussion What are some characteristics of the team you

have assembled that will help make the team

effective?

Are there any characteristics that could hinder

your team’s ability to achieve its goals?

How might role conflict occur and what are

some strategies for resolving these potential

issues?

Reflecting on some of your recent team

experiences, what kind of leadership have you

brought to those teams?

“The Big IG”

A group of women’s health researchers and providers from a variety of

disciplines (including anthropology, communications, dentistry, dental hygiene,

medicine, nursing, public health, sociology and women’s studies) was formed

Purpose of the study Establish a comprehensive and collaborative approach to women’s

health based on oral/systemic relations.

Increase collaboration among different health disciplines using Systems

Thinking and Lifecourse approaches to further the research, practice,

and advocacy of women’s health.

Three oral/systemic links will be looked at: systemic health conditions

affecting oral health, oral health conditions affecting systemic health,

and behavioral issues affecting oral health.

Professionals from a range of disciplines will be brought in to work on

and offer insight towards the oral/systemic relationship in women’s

health.

What started as a very linear model, has now

become more complex in order to more accurately

reflect the complexity of our approach.

We’d like to know what you think about it and how

you would suggest further changing it.

Behavioral

Systemic Oral

Transforming Women’s Health: Exploring the Oral/Systemic Connection as a New Paradigm to Improve Women’s Health

Macro

Meso

Micro

Relationships at Micro scale

Birth to Menarche Menarche to Menopause Menopause and Beyond

Behavioral

Systemic Oral

HERE’S AN EXAMPLE OF HOW THIS MODEL WOULD BE USED…

Macro

Meso

Micro

Relationships at Micro scale

Birth to Menarche

ECC

Tooth Loss

Otitis Media

Hearing Loss

Ped. Dentist Ped. ENT

Pediatrician

Caregiver

TOO LATE

I

I = Intervention

I

MCH Leadership Defined

“An MCH Leader

inspires and brings

people together to

achieve sustainable

results to improve the

lives of the MCH

population.” Source: MCH Leadership Defined, MCH

Leadership Competencies Website,

http://leadership.mchtraining.net/?page_id=155

The Value of Working in Interdisciplinary and Transdisciplinary Teams Network, Network, Network

Leadership

Team Building

Creativity and Innovation

Passion for learning

Flexibility – and patience

Open Discussion

Now that we have discussed the difference aspects

of interdisciplinary/transdisciplinary research, think

about your research or practice interests…

In what ways do you think you can incorporate aspects

of interdisciplinary approaches into your own

research?

What do you see as benefits to incorporating an

interdisciplinary approach?

What difficulties may you come up against?

Thank you!