Outreach dental care programme for older adults using long-term care services in Hong Kong: A qualitative study

IF 2 3区医学 Q2 DENTISTRY, ORAL SURGERY & MEDICINE

Gerodontology Pub Date : 2023-10-04 DOI:10.1111/ger.12717

Stella X. Yang, Edward C. M. Lo, Katherine C. M. Leung

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Objectives

To explore the effects and improvement needs of an outreach dental care programme (ODCP) for older adults using residential care or daycare services from the perspectives of the caregivers, the dentists and administrative staff involved in the implementation of the ODCP.

Methods

A qualitative study was conducted through semi-structured interviews with three stakeholders, long-term care (LTC) facility caregivers, administrative staff and dentists working for the ODCP. Combined maximum variation and snowball sampling strategies were adopted, and 22, 9 and 7 participants were interviewed from each stakeholder, respectively. The interviews were conducted via telephone, which were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim for analysis. NVivo software was used for storing and analysing the data. Data analysis was conducted continuously during the study.

Results

Most participants opined that the ODCP benefited older adults by raising their oral health conditions and awareness. However, they complained of the complicated administrative procedures, unmet dental treatment needs, inefficient coordination, unclear work guidelines and shortage of dental manpower. More advanced dental treatment options, better coordination among different parties, simpler administrative processes and better incentives for dentists were proposed to further improve the programme.

Conclusions

According to the stakeholders, ODCP seems beneficial to older adults using LTC services. Further improvements in the scope of dental treatments, cooperation between the outreach dental teams and caregivers, and streamlining of the administrative process are needed for the provision of effective outreach dental care to satisfy the unmet treatment needs of older adults who use LTC services. Better incentives are needed to attract and retain dentists.

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香港使用长期护理服务的老年人拓展牙科护理计划：一项定性研究。

目的：从参与实施外展牙科护理计划的护理人员、牙医和行政人员的角度，探讨针对使用住宿护理或日托服务的老年人的外展牙科护理方案（ODCP）的效果和改进需求，长期护理机构的护理人员、行政人员和为ODCP工作的牙医。采用最大方差和滚雪球抽样相结合的策略，分别采访了来自每个利益相关者的22名、9名和7名参与者。访谈是通过电话进行的，录音并逐字转录以供分析。NVivo软件用于存储和分析数据。研究期间持续进行数据分析。结果：大多数参与者认为，ODCP通过提高老年人的口腔健康状况和意识使他们受益。然而，他们抱怨行政程序复杂，牙科治疗需求未得到满足，协调效率低下，工作指南不明确，牙科人力短缺。为了进一步改进该方案，建议采用更先进的牙科治疗方案、更好地协调各方、更简单的行政程序和更好地激励牙医。结论：根据利益相关者的说法，ODCP似乎对使用LTC服务的老年人有益。需要进一步改善牙科治疗的范围、外展牙科团队和护理人员之间的合作以及简化行政程序，以提供有效的外展牙科护理，满足使用长期护理服务的老年人未满足的治疗需求。需要更好的激励措施来吸引和留住牙医。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Gerodontology 医学-老年医学

CiteScore

4.10

自引率

10.00%

发文量

审稿时长

3-6 weeks

期刊介绍： The ultimate aim of Gerodontology is to improve the quality of life and oral health of older people. The boundaries of most conventional dental specialties must be repeatedly crossed to provide optimal dental care for older people. In addition, management of other health problems impacts on dental care and clinicians need knowledge in these numerous overlapping areas. Bringing together these diverse topics within one journal serves clinicians who are seeking to read and to publish papers across a broad spectrum of specialties. This journal provides the juxtaposition of papers from traditional specialties but which share this patient-centred interest, providing a synergy that serves progress in the subject of gerodontology.