TY - JOUR
T1 - Care home managers' views of dental services for older people living in nursing and residential homes in inner city London
AU - Belsi, A.
AU - Gonzalez-Maffe, Juan
AU - Jones, K.
AU - Wright, D.
AU - Gallagher, J. E.
PY - 2013/6
Y1 - 2013/6
N2 - Objective: To investigate care home managers' views on the provision of dental care (current and future; urgent, check-up and follow-up) for their residents, barriers to care and the impact of policy changes, by type of home (nursing vs residential), with a view to informing the planning and provision of care. Basic research design: A cross sectional postal questionnaire survey and follow-up semi-structured interviews. Setting: Care homes in South East London. Participants: All care home managers in three south east London boroughs. Results: A 72% response rate (n=152) was achieved, 140 of which were designated as nursing and/or residential homes (92%). Almost all managers reported that the care homes had arrangements in place for residents to access some elements of dental care (99%, n=148). Reported barriers to care included residents' fear of treatment (53%), patients' limited mobility (45%) and waiting times for services (42%). Limited mobility (p=0.01) and transport issues (p=0.01) were more significant barriers for nursing homes, whereas fear (p=0.02) was more significant for residential homes. Access to a range of dental services and modes of service delivery were requested for the future; most notable were the demands for domiciliary services to be available to nursing homes and for residential homes to access local general dental practitioners to meet the needs of their residents. Conclusions: Managers report having arrangements in place for residents to access dental services; however, there was a clear view that future arrangements should be more appropriate to the needs and vulnerabilities of their residents.
AB - Objective: To investigate care home managers' views on the provision of dental care (current and future; urgent, check-up and follow-up) for their residents, barriers to care and the impact of policy changes, by type of home (nursing vs residential), with a view to informing the planning and provision of care. Basic research design: A cross sectional postal questionnaire survey and follow-up semi-structured interviews. Setting: Care homes in South East London. Participants: All care home managers in three south east London boroughs. Results: A 72% response rate (n=152) was achieved, 140 of which were designated as nursing and/or residential homes (92%). Almost all managers reported that the care homes had arrangements in place for residents to access some elements of dental care (99%, n=148). Reported barriers to care included residents' fear of treatment (53%), patients' limited mobility (45%) and waiting times for services (42%). Limited mobility (p=0.01) and transport issues (p=0.01) were more significant barriers for nursing homes, whereas fear (p=0.02) was more significant for residential homes. Access to a range of dental services and modes of service delivery were requested for the future; most notable were the demands for domiciliary services to be available to nursing homes and for residential homes to access local general dental practitioners to meet the needs of their residents. Conclusions: Managers report having arrangements in place for residents to access dental services; however, there was a clear view that future arrangements should be more appropriate to the needs and vulnerabilities of their residents.
KW - Dental care
KW - Dental health services
KW - Health services for the aged
KW - Nursing homes
KW - Oral health
KW - Residential homes
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84878770720&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1922/CDH_2949Gallagher06
DO - 10.1922/CDH_2949Gallagher06
M3 - Article
C2 - 23888536
AN - SCOPUS:84878770720
SN - 0265-539X
VL - 30
SP - 77
EP - 82
JO - Community Dental Health
JF - Community Dental Health
IS - 2
ER -