• 9 years ago
• Posted in:02: Oral disease prevention, 03: Health promotion
• 0
• Author: hsin-ying hsieh
• Tags: community practice, health promotion, table clinic

This experience demonstrated my growth in health promotion. At Pioneer Community Living Association, the residents live with many mental conditions. Dental neglect and medication induced oral diseases are prominent in this population.^1-5 My teammates and I created a table clinic focusing on oral self-care and medication induced dry mouth. We not only provided information to the residents, but also invited the staff and site managers to participate. We promoted health by increasing oral diseases awareness and providing information to help them prevent and reduce oral diseases. Table clinic and education programs focus on oral self-care education for people living with mental illnesses, and the caregivers are important factors to their oral disease prevention and health promotion strategies.⁵

This experience enhanced my ability to communicate and deliver health promotion and disease prevention messages to different group of individuals. I also improved on many specific skillsets, such as creating table clinic, pamphlets, and educational visual aids, which are all important tools required for health promotion and disease prevention to the public.

References:

1. McCreadie RG, Stevens H, Henderson J, Hall D, McCaul R, Filik R, et al. The dental health of people with schizophrenia. Acta Psychiatr Scand. 2004 Oct; 110(4):306-10.
2. Arnaiz A, Zumarraga M, Diez-Altuna I, Uriarte JJ, Moro J, Perez-Ansorena MA. Oral health and symptoms of schizophrenia. Psychiatry Res. 2011 Jun; 188(1):24-8.
3. Tani H, Uchida H, Suzuki T, Shibuya Y, Shimanuki H, Watanabe K, et al. Dental conditions in inpatients with schizophrenia: a large-scale multi-site survey. BMC Oral Health. 2014 Aug; 12:32-8.
4. Zusman SP, Ponizovsky AM, Dekel D, Masarwa AE, Ramon T, Natapov L, et al. An assessment of the dental health of chronic institutionalized patients with psychiatric disease in Israel. Spec Care Dentist. 2010 Jan-Feb; 30(1):18-22.
5. Darby ML, Walsh MM. Dental hygiene: theory and practice. 3rd ed. St. Louis, Mo: Saunders/Elsevier; 2010.