Faculty of Health Sciences, Department of Dental Hygiene, Higher Education Institution Klaipedos Valstybine Kolegija, LT-92255 Klaipeda, Lithuania.
Medicina (Kaunas). 2024 Jul 2;60(7):1087. doi: 10.3390/medicina60071087.
: Dementia is one of the most common diseases in the elderly population. The aim of this study was to reveal the experiences of individual care workers performing oral care for dementia patients. The oral health of the elderly is in a critical state and in most cases not enough attention is paid to this problem. : A qualitative research method was chosen for the research. The data collection instrument was a semi-structured interview, the purpose of which was to reveal the experience, knowledge, and attitude of individual care workers towards the importance of oral care and the oral hygiene habits of patients with dementia. The number of research informants was 10. The inclusion criteria were individual care workers working in social care institutions who were responsible for the personal care of dementia patients. : The analysis of the study showed that the main obstacles facing individual care workers in performing oral care for dementia patients are related to their cognitive disorders. For this reason, unreasonable fears of patients may arise, which also affect the proper performance of individual oral hygiene and other tasks assigned to employees. : The results of the study showed that according the informants' opinions it is crucial to take care of dementia patients' oral care daily.
痴呆症是老年人群中最常见的疾病之一。本研究旨在揭示个体护理人员为痴呆症患者进行口腔护理的经验。老年人的口腔健康状况不佳，在大多数情况下，人们并没有足够重视这个问题。
本研究选择了定性研究方法。数据收集工具是半结构化访谈，目的是揭示个体护理人员对口腔护理重要性的经验、知识和态度，以及痴呆症患者的口腔卫生习惯。研究对象的数量为 10 人。纳入标准为在社会护理机构工作、负责痴呆患者个人护理的个体护理人员。
研究分析表明，个体护理人员在为痴呆症患者进行口腔护理时面临的主要障碍与他们的认知障碍有关。因此，可能会产生对患者的不合理恐惧，这也会影响到员工对患者进行适当的个人口腔卫生护理和其他分配任务的执行。
研究结果表明，根据受访者的意见，每天照顾痴呆症患者的口腔护理至关重要。
