Massey University, Wellington, New Zealand.
Faculty of Dentistry, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.
Gerodontology. 2019 Jun;36(2):149-155. doi: 10.1111/ger.12392. Epub 2019 Jan 24.
To report New Zealand rest home (rest home is the New Zealand term for residential aged care facilities where dependent, institutionalised, elderly people reside.) managers' opinions on access and barriers to oral health care for rest home residents.
An exploratory study using qualitative descriptive methods. Eleven rest home managers in a region of New Zealand were interviewed about admission assessments for new residents, oral health care, availability of dental facilities, staff training in oral hygiene, residents' nutritional needs and oral hygiene aids.
Interviews with managers indicated that rest homes have no policies for the provision of oral health care and only arrange dental check-ups or treatment when requested by residents or family. Barriers to accessing care include making appointments, availability of staff and transport particularly for bedridden patients. Staff receive basic oral hygiene training only and face resistance to oral hygiene from some residents. No homes had a dental chair at their premises. All rest homes stocked oral hygiene aids such as toothbrushes and toothpastes. Electric toothbrushes were not generally promoted with cost being a key factor.
While rest home managers were aware of the importance of good oral health, there are barriers to care. Finance is a challenge as dental care is not publicly funded and many residents rely on a limited income. Recommendations include policy changes to better fund oral health, specific oral health training for rest home staff, provision of mobile dental services to rest homes and the inclusion of gerodontology in the dental school curriculum.
报告新西兰养老院（养老院是新西兰对提供依赖型、机构化、老年人居住服务的养老机构的术语）管理人员对养老院居民获得口腔保健服务的途径和障碍的看法。
采用定性描述性研究方法的探索性研究。对新西兰某地区的 11 名养老院管理人员就新居民入院评估、口腔保健服务、牙科设施的可用性、员工口腔卫生培训、居民营养需求和口腔卫生辅助器具等方面进行了访谈。
管理人员的访谈表明，养老院没有提供口腔保健服务的政策，只有在居民或家属要求时才安排牙科检查或治疗。获取护理的障碍包括预约、员工和交通的可用性，特别是对卧床不起的患者。员工仅接受基本的口腔卫生培训，并且面临一些居民对口腔卫生的抵制。没有一家养老院在其场所配备牙科椅。所有养老院都储备了口腔卫生辅助器具，如牙刷和牙膏。电动牙刷通常不被推荐，因为成本是一个关键因素。
尽管养老院管理人员意识到良好口腔健康的重要性，但仍存在护理障碍。资金是一个挑战，因为牙科护理未被公共资金资助，许多居民依赖有限的收入。建议包括政策的改变以更好地为口腔健康提供资金，为养老院员工提供特定的口腔健康培训，为养老院提供移动牙科服务，并将老年牙科纳入牙科学校课程。
