Home aims to improve residents’ oral health
Monday September 24, 2007 -- Natalie Miller
Improving residents' oral health and subsequent overall well-being is getting the focus at Meadow Park Chatham.

The 97-bed long-term care home’s education co-ordinator is working on educating staff about new best practices in oral health from the Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario. Susan Vanek worked in conjunction with a regional Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care employee to help update the home’s policies and role out the education.

“This time the focus is on oral health,” says Vanek about the RNAO’s best practice guidelines.

“We looked at what we’re doing currently, we looked at the best practices and what we have to do to get there.”

For instance, the home is using a new tool called the Oral Health Assessment Tool. It involves staff completing an assessment on every resident and speaking with family if dental work is necessary. She says mouth care is often a part of the frontline worker’s responsibility as many residents can’t properly care for their teeth.

“We can’t assume that (residents) are doing it,” says Vanek. “I think that is what is happening now.”

She says oral health plays an important role in overall health.

“If you have poor oral hygiene habits, your general health is not going to be good,” she says, adding poor oral health can lead to other diseases.

The education piece involves quizzing staff members on issues like tooth decay and gum disease.

“This is something that has to be adopted into our practices so we want to make it a fun learning experience,” says Lydia Swant, family services and volunteer co-ordinator.

“We've got fun quizzes and each person who hands one in gets an oral care goodie bag with mouthwash, a toothbrush, toothpaste, et cetera. We are also having a ‘Family Feud’ style game with big prizes as incentive to learn and show teamwork."

Staff is running the education piece throughout the month of September.

“We want to compare what our staff currently know about oral care, implement the new guidelines and then re-test their skills and see how far we've come,” Swant says.

“Our goal is to educate and make some real changes in oral care for our elderly population and our staff and their families.”