Interprofessional Collaboration and Smartphone Use as Promising Strategies to Improve Prenatal Oral Health Care Utilization among US Underserved Women – Results from a Qualitative Study

Abstract

Objectives: Data on barriers and facilitators to prenatal oral health care among low-income US women are lacking. The objective of this study was to understand barriers/facilitators and patient-centered mitigation strategies related to use of prenatal oral health care among underserved US women.Methods: We used community-based participatory research to conduct two focus groups with eight pregnant/parenting women; ten individual in-depth interviews with medical providers, dental providers and community/social workers; and one community engagement studio with five representative community stakeholders in 2018-2019. Using an interpretive description research design, we conducted semi-structured interviews and focus groups, which were audio-recorded, transcribed, and analyzed for thematic content.Results: We identified individual and systemic barriers/facilitators to utilization of prenatal oral health care by underserved US women. Strategies reported to improve utilization included healthcare system-wide change to promote inter-professional collaborations, innovative educational programs to improve dissemination and implementation of prenatal oral health care guidelines, and specialized dental facilities providing prenatal oral health care to underserved groups. Furthermore, use of smartphones offers an innovative entry point to promote utilization of prenatal oral care at the individual level.Conclusions for practice: Low-income women face multiple, addressable barriers to receipt of oral health care during pregnancy. Inter-professional collaboration holds strong promise for improving prenatal oral health care utilization.