Investigating the perceptions and experiences of Canadian dentists on dental regulatory bodies' communications and guidelines during the COVID-19 pandemic

IF 1.8 3区医学 Q2 DENTISTRY, ORAL SURGERY & MEDICINE

Community dentistry and oral epidemiology Pub Date : 2024-01-08 DOI:10.1111/cdoe.12939

Kendra Jennie McLaughlin, Mehak Khanna, Paul J. Allison, Michael Glogauer, Mary E. McNally, Carlos Quiñonez, Leigha Rock, Walter Siqueira, Sreenath A. Madathil

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Objective

Dental regulatory bodies aim to ensure the health and safety of dentists, dental staff patients and the public. An important responsibility during a pandemic is to communicate risk and guidelines for patient care. Limited data exist on the perceptions and experiences of dentists navigating new guidelines for mitigating risk in dental care during the pandemic. The objective of this study was to use a qualitative approach to explore how dentists in Canada experienced and perceived their regulatory bodies' communication about COVID-19 risks and guidelines during the pandemic.

Methods

Participants were Canadian dentists (N = 644) recruited through the email roster of nine provincial dental associations or regulatory bodies. This qualitative analysis was nested within a prospective longitudinal cohort study in which data were collected using online questionnaires at regular intervals from August 2020 to November 2021. To address the objective reported in this paper, a conventional qualitative content analysis method was applied to responses to three open-ended questions included in the final questionnaire.

Results

Participants encountered challenges and frustrations amid the COVID-19 pandemic, grappling with diverse regulations and communications from dental bodies. While some bodies offered helpful guidance, many participants felt the need for improved communication on guidelines. Dentists urged for expedited, clearer and more frequent updates, expressing difficulty in navigating overwhelming information. Negative views emerged on the vague and unclear communication of COVID-19 guidelines, contributing to confusion and frustration among participants.

Conclusion

As COVID-19 persists and in planning for future pandemics, these experiential findings will help guide regulatory bodies in providing clear, timely and practical guidelines to protect the health and safety of dentists, dental staff, patients and the public.

查看原文本刊更多论文

调查加拿大牙医对 COVID-19 大流行期间牙科监管机构的沟通和指导方针的看法和经验。

目标：牙科监管机构旨在确保牙医、牙科工作人员、患者和公众的健康与安全。在大流行病期间，一项重要的职责就是传达风险和患者护理指南。关于牙科医生在大流行期间如何利用新指南来降低牙科护理风险的看法和经验的数据十分有限。本研究的目的是采用定性方法探讨加拿大牙医如何体验和感知其监管机构在大流行期间就 COVID-19 风险和指南进行的沟通：参与者是通过九个省级牙医协会或监管机构的电子邮件名册招募的加拿大牙医（N = 644）。这项定性分析嵌套在一项前瞻性纵向队列研究中，该研究在 2020 年 8 月至 2021 年 11 月期间定期使用在线问卷收集数据。为了实现本文所报告的目标，对最终问卷中的三个开放式问题的回答采用了传统的定性内容分析方法：结果：在 COVID-19 大流行期间，参与者遇到了各种挑战和挫折，需要应对各种法规和牙科机构的沟通。虽然一些机构提供了有益的指导，但许多参与者认为有必要改善有关指导方针的沟通。牙医们敦促加快更新速度，使其更加清晰和频繁，并表示难以浏览大量信息。与会者对 COVID-19 指南含糊不清的沟通方式提出了负面意见，这导致了与会者的困惑和挫败感：随着 COVID-19 的持续以及未来流行病的规划，这些经验性发现将有助于指导监管机构提供清晰、及时和实用的指南，以保护牙医、牙科工作人员、患者和公众的健康和安全。

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来源期刊

Community dentistry and oral epidemiology 医学-公共卫生、环境卫生与职业卫生

CiteScore

4.40

自引率

8.70%

发文量

审稿时长

6 months

期刊介绍： The aim of Community Dentistry and Oral Epidemiology is to serve as a forum for scientifically based information in community dentistry, with the intention of continually expanding the knowledge base in the field. The scope is therefore broad, ranging from original studies in epidemiology, behavioral sciences related to dentistry, and health services research through to methodological reports in program planning, implementation and evaluation. Reports dealing with people of all age groups are welcome. The journal encourages manuscripts which present methodologically detailed scientific research findings from original data collection or analysis of existing databases. Preference is given to new findings. Confirmations of previous findings can be of value, but the journal seeks to avoid needless repetition. It also encourages thoughtful, provocative commentaries on subjects ranging from research methods to public policies. Purely descriptive reports are not encouraged, nor are behavioral science reports with only marginal application to dentistry. The journal is published bimonthly.