CDA Essentials 2019 • Volume 6 • Issue 5

18 | 2019 | Issue 5 CDA at W ork CDAEnvironmental Scan: Guiding the Future of Canadian Dentistry The main purpose of this initiative then, as it remains now, was to identify key issues, trends and changes as well as emerging issues in order to assess their impact on the dental profession, either positively or negatively. From its onset, the CDA Environmental Scanning Report (CDA Scan) has served as a forward-thinking analysis of the dental sector and the external forces affecting it, to help inform strategic planning. The CDA Scan is produced annually by CDA staff, primarily in the Clinical and Scientific Affairs, Health Policy and Information, and Knowledge Networks departments. Vast amounts of information, data and correspond- ence is captured, reviewed and analyzed each year in the development process . The goal is to convert this wealth of information into an easy-to-use resource that pinpoints and brings forward the most relevant information. “Some of the information in the CDA Scan may not seem intuitively linked to dentistry, however that’s the purpose of environmental scanning—to bring to the forefront current happenings in the social, economic, technological and health environments that will impact the future of health care,” says Costa Papadopoulos, CDA Manager of Health Policy and Information, and lead author of the CDA Scan. The CDA Scan ultimately tries to answer the questions, “ What? ” (e.g., what is the issue?) and “ So What? ” (e.g., why is the issue important?). These two queries then help organized dentistry plan for the next steps, or the “ Now What? ” component. The first CDA Environmental Scanning Report was produced in 2011. At that time, it was a short report highlighting some of the main issues in the political, economic, societal, technological, health and dental environments. 2019 ENVIRONMENTAL SCANNING REPORT Megatrends in Dentistry *Critical* Human Resources Challenges in Dentistry Prominent Growing Income Inequality Affecting Access to Dental Care Evolution of Alternative Dental Care Delivery Models Evolving Concepts of the Workplace and Benefits Important Increasing Global Mobility of Health Professionals Growing Commercial Nature of Oral Health Care The Rise of Empowered Health Consumers Emerging Expansion of Alternative Health Providers Shifting Care Needs for an Aging Population Transformational Technologies Changing Everything “Some of the information in the CDA Scan may not seem intuitively linked to dentistry, however that’s the purpose of environmental scanning—to bring to the forefront current happenings in the social, economic, technological and health environments that will impact the future of health care.” ➜