Enhancing knowledge, attitudes, and practices related to dental caries in mothers and caregivers of children through a neuroeducational strategy

Abstract

Background Knowledge, attitudes, and practices related to oral health among parents play a crucial role in shaping oral hygiene and preventing early childhood caries. This study was intended to determine the effect of a neuroeducational strategy in improving knowledge, attitudes, and practices related to early childhood caries among mothers or caregivers of children. Methods A quasi-experimental study was conducted, implementing an educational strategy involving 33 mothers or female caregivers of children who met specific selection criteria. The strategy consisted of three key elements derived from neuroeducation: (1) experiment, (2) surprise and play, and (3) learn. Based on the participants’ attendance at the sessions, they were categorized into two groups: those who underwent in-person intervention (G1) and those who received a combined in-person and virtual intervention (G2). The impact of the strategy was evaluated by comparing the participants’ knowledge and attitudes, as well as their children’s plaque index, before and after the intervention (immediate and 6-month impact). Results The participants exhibited a favorable and statistically significant effect on the median number of correct answers related to knowledge (G1 immediate effect (IE): p = 0.03, 6-month effect (ME): p = 0.002; G2 IE p = 0.002, ME: p = 0.001), and in the children’s plaque index (G1 IE: p = 0.003, ME: p = 0.003; G2 IE: p = 0.033, ME: p = 0.003). Furthermore, there was an increase in the number of participants with a high level of knowledge (G1 IE: 41.5%; ME: 75%; G2 IE: 45.5%, ME: 42.9%), and of children with a good level of oral hygiene (G1 IE: 50%; ME: 73.0%; G2 IE: 27.3%, ME: 84.6%). Finally, qualitative interviews revealed a lasting clarity in concepts and sustained knowledge and attitudes at the six-month mark. However, a slightly diminished understanding of the relationship between bacteria, sugar, and caries was observed in G2 group, and some loss of association in the G1 group, at six months. Conclusion The implementation of this strategy resulted in significant and lasting impacts on knowledge, attitudes, and practices, especially in the G1 group. Nevertheless, there is a need for further reinforcement of the association between bacteria, sugar, and caries.

Healthy Life Habits in Caregivers of Children in Vulnerable Populations: A Cluster Analysis

“…It should be noted that unlike most of the previous research [19,21,[41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50][51][52][53], in the present study, the profiles were constructed based on caregivers' attitudes towards HLHs and they did not consider children's habits directly. The similarity between the profiles may be because caregivers' attitudes are related to children's living habits, especially during their first years of life [37,55,56,69].…”

“…During this stage of life, children's behaviors are strongly influenced by the attitudes and living habits of their caregivers, who may facilitate (or limit) certain activities [3][4][5]24,30], model new patterns of behaviors [5,25,28,30,33,34], or instill life values [4,30,35]. Given that caregivers are a key factor in the acquisition of children's life habits, many intervention programs that seek to address the health and well-being of young children have focused on changing caregivers' parenting practices, either through psychoeducation or by making them an integral part of the change process [5,[28][29][30][31]36,37].…”

“…Although many of the programs available to improve the diet, sleep patterns, or physical activity of children and adolescents recognize the importance of providing participants with relevant knowledge about HLH [4,5,24,31,[35][36][37], very few attempt to change the home environment or directly involve caregivers to facilitate children's lifestyle change [4,31,34,36]. This is important because, traditionally, intervention programs target the family or school environment [28,38], ignoring other contexts that are also part of the children's life space [25,30,32,33] or providing information to caregivers about healthy eating, how much sleep children should get, or how much exercise they should do per day.…”