Educational program to improve quality of life among elderly regarding oral health

Oral Health Strategies: Surveying the Present to Plan the Future of Community-Based Learning

Introduction: Oral health literacy relates to the capacity of individuals to acquire, understand and to act upon oral health information to make appropriate health decisions. This scientific review's main goal is to analyze the strategies that improve oral health literacy within the community, specifically oriented to a community-based learning model focused on the most vulnerable risk groups in society. Materials and Methods: The current review is based on the literature on oral health literacy within community-based learning strategies. The present review selected scientific studies by searching MEDLINE and related databases, such as Web of Science and PUBMED, and by consulting existing bibliographies. Results: Based on the application of the inclusion criteria to the abstracts, 45 publications were retrieved which explicitly dealt with the definitions of oral health literacy, community-based learning, and service learning. Several studies have demonstrated that health consumers with low health literacy fail to understand the available health information. Therefore, innovative oral health literacy strategies should be undertaken. Service learning is an example of an educational approach where the student learns specific soft skills in the classroom and collaborates directly with an agency or institution and engages in reflection activities to deepen their understanding of what is being taught. Conclusions: One of the main strategies used to incorporate the oral health professional in social responsibility and direct contact in the community is through experiencing community-based learning projects. The future graduate must be an educator capable of educating patients in order to themselves acquire high-level skills in oral health literacy.

The Impact of Community Empowerment Programs on Oral Health Education for Knowledge Improvement in the Elderly

Objective This study aims to assess whether community empowerment as a health promotion program can improve the knowledge of the elderly and develop self-awareness about their oral health. The elderly population has increased in number and needs special attention, especially regarding the improvement of hygiene and health. Community empowerment is a type of health promotion program that can take the form of counseling and providing knowledge about oral health to the elderly.

Materials and Methods Participants are elderly aged 60 years or older. Counseling was done by oral medicine specialists and residents to provide knowledge about oral health problems. Assessment of knowledge improvement was done using pretest and posttest in a written questionnaire.

Statistical Analysis The Shapiro–Wilk test followed by the Wilcoxon test was used to compare the difference before and after counseling.

Results From a total of 38 elderly included in this study, 29 (76.32%) showed an improved score in posttest compared with pretest. Statistical analysis showed a significant difference between pretest and posttest scores of study participants (p < 0.005).

Conclusion Counseling in empowerment programs can help the elderly improve their knowledge about oral health, so that improvements can be expected to be followed by the development of self-awareness in the future.

Employment Trajectories Across the Life Course and Oral Health Among Older Persons in a Developing Country

A significant research gap on socioeconomic determinants of oral health among older persons is that socioeconomic indicators, like employment status, have essentially been problematized and measured using a cross-sectional approach. Based on a life course approach, and using data from a population-representative, face-to-face and longitudinal-retrospective survey focused on older people in Chile (N = 802), we reconstructed representative types of individual employment trajectories and measured their association with different oral health indicators in old age. Our results show that employment trajectories characterized by continuous, formal, full-time employment have a protective effect for multiple oral health indicators among older people. Our study demonstrates the need for public policies on oral health in old age to incorporate a life course approach and to consider the negative impact of constantly working in informal employment or being out of the labor market permanently, particularly in countries like Chile where temporary and informal employment has risen steadily.

Pessoas idosas institucionalizadas, transtornos depressivos e questões odontológicas: qual o estado da arte?

Resumo Objetivo Fazer um mapeamento e uma discussão sobre o conhecimento científico envolvendo o objeto de pesquisa Condições de saúde bucal e depressão em idosos institucionalizados. Método Revisão de Escopo do tipo mapeamento da literatura. O mapeamento dos dados selecionados foi feito pela técnica de sistematização de dados por meio da Análise de Conteúdo Somativa na perspectiva de Temas Manifestos nos textos. Após as exclusões foram selecionados 27 artigos. Resultados Com a análise dos artigos foi possível dividi-los em dois temas. Todos os continentes possuem publicações acerca do tema. Sobre sua metodologia, muitas pesquisas com desenho de estudos dedutivos foram realizadas e poucas pesquisas foram desenvolvidas com métodos indutivos. Conclusão O presente estudo identificou que existe uma interlocução entre algumas condições de saúde bucal (xerostomia e perda dentária) e prevalência de transtornos depressivos em idosos institucionalizados.