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Effect of an oral healthcare programme on care staff knowledge and attitude regarding oral health: a non-randomised intervention trial

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Abstract

Objectives

The objective of the study was to evaluate the effect of an oral healthcare programme in nursing homes on care staff knowledge and attitude regarding oral health.

Methods

The study sample consisted of the nurses and nurses’ aides from 63 nursing homes, which either received an oral healthcare programme including mobile dental care or were on a waiting list to receive this programme. A validated questionnaire completed at baseline and again after the study period assessed the care staff knowledge and attitude. Paired t test, independent t test, general linear and linear mixed models were used to examine the changes in attitude and knowledge scores.

Results

In total, 546 questionnaires were completed by the same people from 36 nursing homes at baseline and on completion of the study. After the intervention period, knowledge significantly improved in both study groups (I p < 0.001; C p < 0.001), the intervention group significantly showing the largest increase (p < 0.001). The outcome variable attitude only showed a significant improvement in the intervention group (p < 0.001). The mixed models confirmed the impact of some aspects of the intervention on the attitude and the knowledge of the caregivers.

Conclusions

The oral healthcare programme including a mobile dental team resulted in a significant increase of the care staff knowledge and attitude regarding oral health.

Clinical relevance

The integration of a dental professional team in nursing home organisations should be encouraged because it could be valuable to tackle barriers for the provision of daily oral hygiene and to support the continuous integration of oral health care into general care.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are indebted to the nursing homes, especially the nurses and nurses’ aides who volunteered to participate in this study.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. BENECOMO, Flemish-Netherlands Geriatric Oral Research Group, Ghent, Belgium

    B. Janssens, J. Vanobbergen, J. M. G. A. Schols & L. De Visschere

  2. BENECOMO, Flemish-Netherlands Geriatric Oral Research Group, Nijmegen, The Netherlands

    B. Janssens, J. Vanobbergen, J. M. G. A. Schols & L. De Visschere

  3. Community Dentistry and Oral Public Health, Dental School, Ghent University, De Pintelaan 185 P8, 9000, Ghent, Belgium

    B. Janssens, J. Vanobbergen, M. Lambert & L. De Visschere

  4. Caphri, Department of Family Medicine and Department of Health Services Research, Maastricht University, PO Box 616, 6200 MD, Maastricht, The Netherlands

    J. M. G. A. Schols

Authors
  1. B. Janssens
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  2. J. Vanobbergen
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  3. M. Lambert
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  4. J. M. G. A. Schols
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  5. L. De Visschere
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to B. Janssens.

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Funding

There was no extra funding for this article.

Ethical approval

The study was approved by the Ethical Committee of Ghent University Hospital (B670201318460) and has been performed in accordance with the ethical standards as laid down in the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and its later amendments.

Informed consent

Consent was obtained from all nursing homes prior to the start of the study. The nurses and nurses’ aides gave their individual informed consent when they filled out the questionnaire.

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Janssens, B., Vanobbergen, J., Lambert, M. et al. Effect of an oral healthcare programme on care staff knowledge and attitude regarding oral health: a non-randomised intervention trial. Clin Oral Invest 22, 281–292 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00784-017-2110-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00784-017-2110-6

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