Coopers donates $150,000 to mobile dental service for the elderly

An organisation providing mobile dental services to residents in 48 aged care and nursing homes in socially disadvantaged communities of South Australia is the inaugural recipient of the Coopers Brewery Foundation Sustainable Giving Program.

Coopers Brewery Foundation will provide the Australian Dental Outreach Foundation (ADOF) with a total of $150,000 over the next three years to help fund dental outreach clinics.

These clinics are expected to provide emergency and preventative dental care to almost 4200 residents.

Chair of the Coopers Brewery Foundation, Melanie Cooper, said the ADOF was one of six charities in the aged care, medical research or health care sectors that had been short-listed for funding this year.

“The Board of Governors believes the impact the ADOF will make in socially disadvantaged communities in Adelaide and country SA, together with the significant donation of time and equipment it has made, make this the stand-out winner,” she said.

The ADOF will be presented with a cheque for $50,000 covering the first year of the program at a special function at Coopers Brewery next month.

Chairperson for the Australian Dental Outreach Foundation, Dr Greg Miller, said the organisation was both stunned and delighted to have been selected.

“We are extremely grateful to Coopers Foundation and look forward to further developing our program,” he said.

“Poor oral health has been linked with increased mortality and morbidity in nursing home residents and has a known measurable impact on the quality of life. This program hopes to better the quality of life for residents who are physically unable to visit a dentist due to health-related issues or dental services being unavailable.”

Dr Miller said the Australian Dental Outreach Foundation program was the largest aged care program of its kind in South Australia.

Cooper said the Coopers Foundation would choose a charity from the family and community sector for funding under the Sustainable Giving Program in 2018, while 2019 will be dedicated to a charity from the youth education sector.

From 2019, Coopers will support three organisations simultaneously under its Sustainable Giving program.