Collaborative oral health education for caregivers in an assisted-living facility

Abstract

Background: The purpose of this study was to implement a collaborative oral health project and evaluate its effectiveness for caregivers in an assisted-living facility. An interdisciplinary study was conducted by nursing and dental hygiene faculty.

Methods: A quasi-experimental design was utilized with a pre-post treatment format. Pre-and post-treatment scores were analyzed from a convenience sample of 13 caregivers in an assisted-living facility. The information addressed oral care assessments, interventions, evaluation and referral guidelines.

Results: Post-treatment scores were significantly higher than pre-treatment scores (p=.002). The results indicate the collaborative teaching project was effective increasing knowledge of assisted-living caregivers regarding oral hygiene practices for older adults.

Conclusions: Based on these findings the results indicate collaborative oral health care teaching project was effective in increasing caregiver oral hygiene knowledge. It was concluded that the collaborative instruction was effective. Other considerations included positive outcomes on a follow-up survey assessment of caregivers and assisted-living management regarding utilization of new information that had been presented.