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This Is The American Dental Hygienists’ Association
2022 ADHA Annual Conference
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Shannon Sweeney, ODHA President
The President‘s Message
F.O.C.U.S. Ohio!
Hello, Ohio!
It’s an honor and pleasure to address you as President of the Ohio Dental Hygienists’ Association. I would like to thank my family for their patience and love during my leadership journey. Thank you to Deborah Stevens for giving me that gentle SHOVE to run for President-Elect last year.
This year I want to focus on our association’s needs. FOCUS: what does that word mean to you? When a camera lens is focused we are able to see clearly. What can we accomplish together if we focus on our association. When we focus we think clearly, effectively, and productively stirring the strategic direction of our association. We set clear goals, avoid distractions, pay attention to our needs and use technology to our advantage. Focusing helps us take stock in what we’re doing well and where we could improve.
F is for FUTURE: What does the future of ODHA look like? What do we want it to look like? How do we grow our membership and keep it growing? How do we move legislation forward in our favor? What does our future hold? We need to take control of our future!
O is for OPPORTUNITIES: We need to create opportunities to grow our membership. We need to be making contact with students before they graduate-encouraging and mentoring them. This task shouldn’t be left to our faculty members alone. I have had the privilege of visiting 8 of our 13 dental hygiene programs this year. My goal is to visit all 13 by the end of my Presidency. We need to be reaching out and marketing to non-members and inviting them to our CE’s and component meetings where we can share ADHA’s vision and Ohio’s mission. We need to remind our current members why their membership is important as a collective.
C is for COMMUNITY: We ARE the ODHA family. We are a fellowship, sharing in common attitudes, interests and goals. We are friends, colleagues and mentors all working towards the same goals for our association.
U is for UNITED: In the words of Dr. Denise Bowers, “We are always better together”! There is strength in numbers. Together we can grow our membership, move legislation forward and be a leader in access to dental care across our state. When we speak to legislators we need be one voice.
S is for SYNERGY: It means “the cooperation of two or more organizations to produce a combined effect greater than the sum of their separate effects.” To move legislation we will need to collaborate with other health care professionals and associations. We need to Stop, Collaborate and Listen.
F.O.C.U.S. Ohio!
Shannon Sweeney, RDH
ODHA President
2021-2022