Quality of life as an indicator of oral health in older people.
(17/34)
BACKGROUND: Quality of life is dynamic, fluctuating and resilent; it has both positive and negative attributes and is influenced by personal and social expectations. However, it is difficult to measure the experience in a way that is clinically relevant and useful. METHODS: The author examined the literature relating to the assessment and measurement of quality of life as influenced by oral health. RESULTS: It is difficult to interpret the clinical relevance of measurements from questionnaires or structured interviews that use predetermined response options to indicate health-related quality of life. In contrast, open-ended interviews and focus groups have helped to clarify the mouth's effect on the quality of life of older people. They also have helped to construct a new model of oral health that is consistent with current concepts of aging and disability. CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: The new model of oral health offers the possibility of developing interviews and questionnaires using language that has the scope and sensitivity needed to reveal the positive strategies that older people use to manage their oral health and quality of life. (+info)
Dentistry in Japan should become a specialty of medicine with dentists educated as oral physicians.
(18/34)
In Japan, the population of elderly individuals (those sixty-five years of age and older) will increase to over 30 percent of the total population by 2030. The elderly commonly have chronic diseases that result in individuals being biologically and pharmacologically compromised. Dentists must have a reliable knowledge of basic clinical medicine for these individuals to be safely and effectively treated. The isolation of dental education from medical education may have been advantageous in the past for the development of dentistry as a profession; however, changes in people's life expectancy and lifestyles, as well as rapid advances in the biomedical sciences, require dentists to have a thorough foundation in biomedical science and clinical medicine not dissimilar from a physician in any other field of medicine. A reformation of dental education is necessary if optimum oral health care is to be provided for patients in the future. It is thus advocated that dentistry should become one specialty of medicine known as oral medicine, and we propose that the education of dentists should be modified to produce oral physicians. (+info)
Oral care for frail elders: knowledge, attitudes, and practices of long-term care staff.
(19/34)
The University of British Columbia Geriatric Dentistry Program (GDP) offers dental services and provides a comprehensive in-service education program for nursing and residential care-aide (RCA) staff in the provision of daily mouth care for elders in various long-term care (LTC) facilities in Vancouver. This study examined the general impact of the education initiative at one LTC site. A survey (N=90), semi-structured open-ended interviews (N=26), and product audits were conducted to 1) examine the impact of the GDP education initiative on the level of knowledge, attitudes, and practices of RCAs and nursing staff regarding the provision of daily mouth care; 2) identify the enablers and barriers that influenced the provision of daily mouth care practices, policies, and protocols using the PRECEDE-PROCEED model of health promotion research; and 3) assess the self-perceptions of RCAs and nursing staff members regarding their oral health. A knowledge gap was evident in some key areas pertaining to prevention of dental diseases. Twenty-five percent of residents were missing toothbrushes and toothpaste for daily mouth care. Residents who exhibit resistance to mouth care tended not to receive regular care, while issues such as time, increased workload, limited staff, and the lack of an accountability structure are disenabling factors for provision of daily mouth care. Results suggest that the impact of educational interventions is affected by the quality of in-service education, an absence of identified predisposing, reinforcing, and enabling factors, and a strong commitment among LTC staff to the provision of daily mouth care for frail elders. (+info)
Educational systems and the continuum of care for the older adult.
(20/34)
This article outlines educational developments for adaptive and adapted work roles, current educational systems and practice, and aspects of educational research to illuminate issues for the future of geriatric oral health and well-being. The concept of work roles is used as a proxy to point up continuity of care issues, albeit limited, for patients/clients/consumers. Interdisciplinary learning for the initial education of dental providers/team members requires review with specific reference to geriatric care. Experienced dental and other health and social care professionals should review their roles in meeting the oral health needs of the aging cohorts. The relationship of dental schools/faculties in higher education institutions to those organizations that deliver education to various health and social care sectors-the personnel being at key points in the delivery of care-is also worthy of review. (+info)
The educational challenge of dental geriatrics.
(21/34)
Education in dentistry as in medicine is guided principally by the ontology and theory of science, which provides definitions of health and disease, legitimizes research methods, and influences the role of the clinician. The challenge of managing chronic oral disease and disability prompts interest in social theory as much as science. Therefore, dental geriatrics requires a solid foundation in the humanities from the belief that the determinants of health and the cause of chronic diseases lie within an intermingling of biology, economics, sociocultural structure, and human behavior. The dental curriculum in many places is reorganizing from the horizontal foundation of basic sciences to an integration of foundational and clinical knowledge focused on clinical competencies and integrated care. The impact of this integration on dental geriatrics necessitates a more humanistic and naturalistic perspective in dental education to balance and challenge the current evidence for best clinical practice, which at present is based almost exclusively on science. Consequently, dental students should be exposed to a consilience of the science and the humanities if dentists are to address effectively the needs of an aging population. (+info)
Teaching, learning, and assessment in geriatric dentistry: researching models of practice.
(22/34)
Changing demography due to the increasing population of elderly persons the world over has raised new challenges in every sphere of life. The greatest challenge is to provide affordable, accessible, and equitable health care to this population. Oral health is an integral part of general health and affects physical and mental well-being and quality of life of elderly persons. To provide quality oral health care to the elderly, it is important to focus on education in geriatric dentistry, since it is known that education is closely linked to health care provision. It has been found that education in geriatric dentistry has wide variations in different parts of the world. Also, it is being taught at different levels: the predoctoral curriculum, postdoctoral certificate/diploma courses of varying duration by direct or distance mode using computer-assisted learning, degree courses of three years' duration, or continuing education programs. This article attempts to study geriatric dentistry education in global perspective. It is discussed in three sections: 1) varying concepts and methods of teaching, learning, and assessment in dental education; 2) status of geriatric dental education in developed and developing countries with emphasis on the Indian scenario; and 3) challenges and opportunities in developing geriatric dental education. (+info)
Meeting oral health needs to promote the well-being of the geriatric population: educational research issues.
(23/34)
This article reviews some of the more recent demographic changes affecting aging populations. The author expands the concept of aging to include persons who may be chronologically young but biologically old because they are medically compromised or developmentally disabled. It is not known how many persons can be included in this definition who will need care, and the question is what are their needs and how are we going to teach dental students and dentists to care for them. These problems are discussed, and some models of care are described. (+info)
The development of geriatric dental education programs in Canada: an update.
(24/34)
The Canadian population is aging, and the oral health needs of this aging population have changed. The majority of older people are now dentate, which means that they continue to need the services of a dentist, specifically dentists who have been trained in geriatric oral health care. This paper reviews the history of geriatric training in Canada. Such training remains inadequate at both the predoctoral level and the postdoctoral or fellowship level. If geriatric or special needs dentistry were to be accepted as a specialty program, it might become more attractive as a career path for dentists. (+info)