Oral health promotion programme for older migrant adults

Abstract

Objectives: This study evaluated the impact of a community-based oral health promotion programme on the use of oral health services, oral health knowledge, attitudes, and practices of older Greek and Italian adults attending community clubs and living in Melbourne, Australia. Methods: The oral health promotion intervention consisted of three components: a series of oral health seminars, held at the clubs in the participants’ native languages, the provision of oral health care products, and the production of oral health information sheets. The intervention programme was known as the Oral Health Information Seminars/Sheets (ORHIS). The content of each session was determined following suggestions and findings from the data collected. A pre-test–post-test non-equivalent control group quasi-experimental design was chosen to evaluate the intervention. A total of 520 independent-living older adults, members of Greek or Italian social clubs participated in this evaluation. Results: Participants who took part in the intervention responded with higher levels of achievement than those in the control groups. After controlling for baseline variables, experimental groups were significantly more likely than the control groups at post-test to have improved oral health attitudes, oral health knowledge, and self-assessed physical health status, as well as, self-reported oral hygiene practices and use of oral health services. Discussion: The ORHIS approach was successful within the setting of social clubs, and highly acceptable to these communities. As such, it represents a helpful approach for the design of (oral) health interventions in older adults. Further research is required to test the long-term impact including the economic evaluation of the ORHIS approach.