The Melbourne Dental School, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, 3053, Australia.
BMC Oral Health. 2021 Feb 25;21(1):85. doi: 10.1186/s12903-021-01438-x.
This study explored the oral health promotion practices of Australian community mental health professionals working with people living with severe mental illness (SMI).
An anonymous cross-sectional web-based survey was distributed to all Community Rehabilitation and Support Workers (CRSWs) working at Neami National (n = 471), an Australian community mental health service. The validated questionnaire assessed participants' self-rated oral health knowledge and confidence (7 questions); their perceived barriers (9 questions) and attitudes (5 questions) to oral health promotion; and their oral health promotion practices (7 questions). Differences in responses between groups were analysed using Chi-square, Fisher's exact and Mann-Whitney U tests. Logistic Regression Analysis served to explore the probability of providing oral health support to mental health consumers.
A total of 141 CRSWs were included in this study, achieving a response rate of 30 percent. Roughly two-fifths (39.0%) of participants had oral health training in the previous 12-months. The majority of CRSWs (89.3%) believed ('Agreed' or 'Strongly agreed') that mental health support workers have a role to play in promoting oral health. However, less than half (44.0%) of CRSWs practiced oral health promotion activities when working with mental health consumers. When asked about barriers to promoting oral health, 'lack of consumer interest' was the most prevalent issue. CRSWs who had oral health training were over three-times (OR 3.5, 95% CI 1.25-9.83, p = 0.017) more likely to provide oral health support. Results showed the provision of oral health support was most strongly associated with self-rated knowledge and confidence (OR 4.089, 95% CI 1.629-10.263, p = 0.003) and attitudes to oral health promotion (OR 3.906, 95% CI 1.77-8.65, p = 0.001).
The results of this study suggest that mental health support workers who have more positive attitudes to oral health promotion and who have higher self-rated oral health knowledge and confidence are more likely to provide oral health support in their professional role. Training for community mental health professionals is essential to build confidence and skills to promote oral health for mental health consumers.
本研究探讨了澳大利亚社区心理健康专业人员在为严重精神疾病（SMI）患者提供服务时的口腔健康促进实践。
一项匿名的横断面网络调查分发给 Neami National（n=471）的所有社区康复和支持工作者（CRSW），这是一家澳大利亚社区心理健康服务机构。经过验证的问卷评估了参与者的自我评估口腔健康知识和信心（7 个问题）；他们对口腔健康促进的感知障碍（9 个问题）和态度（5 个问题）；以及他们的口腔健康促进实践（7 个问题）。使用卡方检验、Fisher 确切检验和 Mann-Whitney U 检验分析组间差异。逻辑回归分析用于探索向精神健康消费者提供口腔健康支持的概率。
共有 141 名 CRSW 参与了这项研究，回应率为 30%。大约五分之二（39.0%）的参与者在过去 12 个月内接受过口腔健康培训。大多数 CRSW（89.3%）认为（“同意”或“强烈同意”）心理健康支持人员在促进口腔健康方面发挥作用。然而，只有不到一半（44.0%）的 CRSW 在与精神健康消费者合作时开展口腔健康促进活动。当被问及促进口腔健康的障碍时，“消费者缺乏兴趣”是最普遍的问题。接受过口腔健康培训的 CRSW 提供口腔健康支持的可能性是未接受过培训的三倍多（OR 3.5，95%CI 1.25-9.83，p=0.017）。结果表明，提供口腔健康支持与自我评估的知识和信心（OR 4.089，95%CI 1.629-10.263，p=0.003）以及对口腔健康促进的态度（OR 3.906，95%CI 1.77-8.65，p=0.001）最为相关。
本研究结果表明，对口腔健康促进持更积极态度、自我评估口腔健康知识和信心较高的心理健康支持人员更有可能在其专业角色中提供口腔健康支持。对社区心理健康专业人员进行培训对于增强他们为精神健康消费者促进口腔健康的信心和技能至关重要。
