Effect of an oral healthcare programme on care staff knowledge and attitude regarding oral health: a non-randomised intervention trial

The objective of the study was to evaluate the effect of an oral healthcare programme in nursing homes on care staff knowledge and attitude regarding oral health. The study sample consisted of the nurses and nurses' aides from 63 nursing homes, which either received an oral healthcare programme including mobile dental care or were on a waiting list to receive this programme. A validated questionnaire completed at baseline and again after the study period assessed the care staff knowledge and attitude. Paired t test, independent t test, general linear and linear mixed models were used to examine the changes in attitude and knowledge scores. In total, 546 questionnaires were completed by the same people from 36 nursing homes at baseline and on completion of the study. After the intervention period, knowledge significantly improved in both study groups (I p < 0.001; C p < 0.001), the intervention group significantly showing the largest increase (p < 0.001). The outcome variable attitude only showed a significant improvement in the intervention group (p < 0.001). The mixed models confirmed the impact of some aspects of the intervention on the attitude and the knowledge of the caregivers. The oral healthcare programme including a mobile dental team resulted in a significant increase of the care staff knowledge and attitude regarding oral health. The integration of a dental professional team in nursing home organisations should be encouraged because it could be valuable to tackle barriers for the provision of daily oral hygiene and to support the continuous integration of oral health care into general care.