Four graduates of CPP’s Community Resource Navigator Program (CRNP) recently published research they completed through the program in the Undergraduate Journal of Service Learning and Community-Based Research.
Titled The Impact of the Resource Navigator Program: Evaluation of Dental Access and Need in Madison, Wisconsin, the study examined how CRNP connects low-income and underinsured community members with affordable oral health services in Madison.
The students used a mixed-methods approach to evaluate participants’ experiences accessing dental resources. Their findings highlighted both the value of resource navigation and the barriers that continue to prevent people from accessing dental care. While 95% of participants who requested dental resources received information about available services, only 20% confirmed that they ultimately connected with a dental clinic.
Participants identified affordability, transportation, Medicaid limitations, and stigma as key barriers to accessing dental care. The findings also highlighted the role that CRNP and other resource navigation programs can play in addressing these barriers and connecting community members with resources that support their health.
For the four students who conducted the research, their time with CRNP also helped shape their academic and professional paths.
Kaela Groppel served as a lead navigator with CRNP and graduated from UW-Madison with majors in Biochemistry and Psychology and certificates in Global Health, Leadership, and Health Policy. She is currently pursuing an accelerated M.D. degree through the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, with plans to enter rural general surgery and serve communities in need across Wisconsin.
“The CRNP greatly helped prepare me for my further education, as I now have the tools and knowledge to guide my patients in not only medical issues but social ones,” Kaela said. “The skills and lessons learned at CRNP are ones I will carry with me for a lifetime, and I can only continue to encourage students to join the program and extend the impact to our communities.”
Jade Haugen graduated from UW-Madison with majors in Biochemistry and Life Science Communications. Jaideep Singh Bal graduated with majors in Biochemistry and Global Health and is currently pursuing a master’s degree in Bacteriology at UW-Madison.
Zoe Allen graduated from UW-Madison with a major in Global Health and currently works as a Care Manager at a nonprofit serving low-income older adults in San Francisco. She is applying to dental school, where she hopes to continue working with underserved populations. Her two and a half years with CRNP helped inspire her interest in public health dentistry.
“Being part of the Resource Navigator Program provided me with amazing experience in public health and research,” Zoe said.
Through their work as Resource Navigators and their research on dental access, these four alumni saw firsthand how factors such as cost, transportation, insurance, and stigma can shape a person’s ability to access care. Their research demonstrates the importance of not only connecting people with health care resources, but also understanding and addressing the barriers that can make those resources difficult to access in the first place.
