Health visitors' and school nurses' perceptions of promoting dental health in children

Coll, Anne Marie; Filipponi, Teresa; Richards, Wayne

doi:10.12968/johv.2016.4.2.100

Cited by 14 publications

(43 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…The diaries suggest that health visitors felt obliged to go through all areas regarding oral health, such as diet, managing behaviours and toothbrushing. This is similar to previous studies in that health visitors felt as though they needed to provide additional detailed oral health information [ 29 ], rather than reinforcing one key oral health message [ 17 ]. The findings show variance in how the intervention was delivered, and there should be an emphasis on avoiding information overload on parents.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 85%

“…This reinforces the important role health visitors have in supporting optimal oral health behaviours and limiting tooth decay in young children [ 28 ]. The health visitors appeared to value the importance and utility of training to support oral health conversations, especially given the lack of appropriate oral health training, as identified by previous research [ 8 , 17 , 29 , 30 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In some instances, mainly where access to dental clinics for new patients (e.g., young children) is limited or absent[ 16 ], health visitors may be the only source of oral health advice [ 15 ]. An exploration of health visitors experiences highlighted awareness of the risk factors for oral health and a willingness to provide advice [ 17 ]. However, Oge, Douglas [ 18 ] found that health visitors had limited specialised knowledge to help parents overcome barriers to toothbrushing and limiting sugary foods and drinks, and less than 25% were able to answer oral health questions appropriately.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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HABIT (Health visitors delivering Advice in Britain on Infant Toothbrushing): a qualitative exploration of the acceptability of a complex oral health intervention

Bhatti

Wray²,

Eskytė

et al. 2022

BMC Prim. Care

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Background To explore the acceptability of the oral health intervention, HABIT (Health visitors delivering Advice in Britain on Infant Toothbrushing) to parents with young children aged 9–12 months and health visitors. Methods Following the delivery of the universal oral health intervention called HABIT, qualitative semi-structured interviews with parents and focus groups with health visitors were undertaken. Interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed. Health visitors completed self-reported diaries after delivering the HABIT intervention with parents. The qualitative data was analysed using framework analysis (guided by a theoretical framework of acceptability). Results Seventeen parents were interviewed, and five health visitors and three nursery nurses participated in two focus groups. Parents reported health visitors to be ‘trusted’ and valued the reassurance provided during the HABIT visit. Health visitors found the HABIT training and resources useful and valued the consistency and increased confidence in undertaking oral health conversations. There were, however, challenges in changing behaviour where families faced competing demands on time and resources. Both health visitors and parents described the importance of the intervention's timing and suggested that multiple visits may be needed to support optimal oral health habits. Conclusion The HABIT intervention was acceptable to parents and health visitors. Health visitors would welcome a further refinement to enhance intervention delivery that specifically achieves a balance between using a guided script and retaining the flexibility to adapt the conversation to suit the needs of individual families. This, in turn, will maximise impact and enable parents of young children to adopt and maintain optimal home-based oral health behaviours for their child.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 85%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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HABIT (Health visitors delivering Advice in Britain on Infant Toothbrushing): a qualitative exploration of the acceptability of a complex oral health intervention

Bhatti

Wray²,

Eskytė

et al. 2022

BMC Prim. Care

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The questionnaire used was purpose-designed for this study. The development of the survey questions began with a review of the dental and mental health literature [24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31]. The knowledge, confidence and attitudes questions were derived from previous Australian studies [32,33].…”

Section: Survey Toolmentioning

confidence: 99%

Oral health promotion practices of Australian community mental health professionals: a cross sectional web-based survey

2021

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Background This study explored the oral health promotion practices of Australian community mental health professionals working with people living with severe mental illness (SMI). Methods An anonymous cross-sectional web-based survey was distributed to all Community Rehabilitation and Support Workers (CRSWs) working at Neami National (n = 471), an Australian community mental health service. The validated questionnaire assessed participants’ self-rated oral health knowledge and confidence (7 questions); their perceived barriers (9 questions) and attitudes (5 questions) to oral health promotion; and their oral health promotion practices (7 questions). Differences in responses between groups were analysed using Chi-square, Fisher’s exact and Mann–Whitney U tests. Logistic Regression Analysis served to explore the probability of providing oral health support to mental health consumers. Results A total of 141 CRSWs were included in this study, achieving a response rate of 30 percent. Roughly two-fifths (39.0%) of participants had oral health training in the previous 12-months. The majority of CRSWs (89.3%) believed (‘Agreed’ or ‘Strongly agreed’) that mental health support workers have a role to play in promoting oral health. However, less than half (44.0%) of CRSWs practiced oral health promotion activities when working with mental health consumers. When asked about barriers to promoting oral health, ‘lack of consumer interest’ was the most prevalent issue. CRSWs who had oral health training were over three-times (OR 3.5, 95% CI 1.25–9.83, p = 0.017) more likely to provide oral health support. Results showed the provision of oral health support was most strongly associated with self-rated knowledge and confidence (OR 4.089, 95% CI 1.629–10.263, p = 0.003) and attitudes to oral health promotion (OR 3.906, 95% CI 1.77–8.65, p = 0.001). Conclusion The results of this study suggest that mental health support workers who have more positive attitudes to oral health promotion and who have higher self-rated oral health knowledge and confidence are more likely to provide oral health support in their professional role. Training for community mental health professionals is essential to build confidence and skills to promote oral health for mental health consumers.

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“…Health visitors therefore have an ideal opportunity to support families to adopt optimal oral health habits (including PSB and limiting sugary foods and drinks). The universal visits undertaken by health visitors with parents of children aged 9–12 months are one such opportunity [ 16 , 17 ]. One of the five core mandated visits, conveniently, this visit is timely owing to the recent eruption of the primary dentition.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Co-design of an oral health intervention (HABIT) delivered by health visitors for parents of children aged 9–12 months

et al. 2022

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Background Dental caries (tooth decay) in children is a national public health problem with impacts on the child, their family and wider society. Toothbrushing should commence from the eruption of the first primary tooth. Health visitors are a key provider of advice for parents in infancy and are ideally placed to support families to adopt optimal oral health habits. HABIT is a co-designed complex behaviour change intervention to support health visitors’ oral health conversations with parents during the 9–12-month universal developmental home visit. Methods A seven stage co-design process was undertaken: (1) Preparatory meetings with healthcare professionals and collation of examples of good practice, (2) Co-design workshops with parents and health visitors, (3) Resource development and expert/peer review, (4) Development of an intervention protocol for health visitors, (5) Early-phase testing of the resources to explore acceptability, feasibility, impact and mechanism of action, (6) Engagement with wider stakeholders and refinement of the HABIT intervention for wider use, (7) Verification, Review and Reflection of Resources. Results Following preparatory meetings with stakeholders, interviews and co-design workshops with parents and health visitors, topic areas and messages were developed covering six key themes. The topic areas provided a structure for the oral health conversation and supportive resources in paper-based and digital formats. A five-step protocol was developed with health visitors to guide the oral health conversation during the 9–12 month visit. Following training of health visitors, an early-phase feasibility study was undertaken with preliminary results presented at a dissemination event where feedback for further refinement of the resources and training was gathered. The findings, feedback and verification have led to further refinements to optimise quality, accessibility, fidelity and behaviour change theory. Conclusion The co-design methods ensured the oral health conversation and supporting resources used during the 9–12 month visit incorporated the opinions of families and Health Visitors as well as other key stakeholders throughout the development process. This paper provides key learning and a framework that can be applied to other healthcare settings. The structured pragmatic approach ensured that the intervention was evidence-based, acceptable and feasible for the required context. Trial registration ISRCTN55332414, Registration Date 11/11/2021.

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Health visitors' and school nurses' perceptions of promoting dental health in children

Cited by 14 publications

References 19 publications

HABIT (Health visitors delivering Advice in Britain on Infant Toothbrushing): a qualitative exploration of the acceptability of a complex oral health intervention

HABIT (Health visitors delivering Advice in Britain on Infant Toothbrushing): a qualitative exploration of the acceptability of a complex oral health intervention

Oral health promotion practices of Australian community mental health professionals: a cross sectional web-based survey

Co-design of an oral health intervention (HABIT) delivered by health visitors for parents of children aged 9–12 months

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