Dental Public Health Resident UT Health San Antonio School of Dentistry
Participants should be aware of the following financial/non-financial relationships: . Joseph Dumbuya, DMD, MPH: I do not have any relevant financial / non-financial relationships with any proprietary interests.. Rochisha Singh Marwaha, BDS, MPH: I do not have any relevant financial / non-financial relationships with any proprietary interests.. Pankil Shah, MD, MSPH: I do not have any relevant financial / non-financial relationships with any proprietary interests.. Suman N Challa, BDS, MSPH: I do not have any relevant financial / non-financial relationships with any proprietary interests.
Abstract: Objective- To assess the knowledge, attitude, and confidence of caregivers and staff towards providing oral health care to nursing home residents in San Antonio, Texas. Methods - A semi-structured interview guide was used to conduct face-to-face interviews with 20 caregivers and staff from nursing homes in San Antonio. A convenient sampling method was used to select the participants. Two different survey instruments were used for both the caregivers and staff. Each instrument contained questions regarding the knowledge, attitude, and confidence of caregivers and staff towards providing oral health care to nursing home residents. Responses to the open-ended questions were digitally recorded, transcribed, and hand-coded to form themes by one member of the team, and a qualitative data management software technology MAXQDA was used to code and generate themes by another individual for interrater reliability. Results- The preliminary analysis suggests that caregivers and staff exhibited basic knowledge, attitude, and confidence towards providing oral health care to residents. The results indicate gaps in knowledge which can affect their confidence and the oral healthcare delivered to the residents. Conclusion – Nursing home administrators and managers must ensure that caregivers and staff receive routine training to improve their knowledge, attitude, and confidence so they can adequately care for the oral health of residents. Another suggested approach using the results of the study is to identify a dental champion within the nursing homes who can coordinate the oral healthcare for residents.
