Quality of Oral-care by Caregivers in Government-assisted Long-term-care-institutions-for-elderly-people in Trinidad

Objectives: Objectives
- Investigate the Knowledge of Caregivers / Nursing Staff
- Examine the Attitudes of Caregivers / Nursing Staff
- Determine the Beliefs of Caregivers / Nursing Staff
- Ascertain the level of Training of Caregivers / Nursing Staff
in Government-Assisted long-term-care-institutions, in relation to Oral-Care for elderly people in Trinidad.
Methods: 42 questionnaires were couriered to the respective homes with prepaid return packages being enclosed. Completed questionnaires were returned via courier and the data entered into an excel spread sheet for analysis.

Results: Response Rate - 69%.
27.6% completed nursing-training.
69.0% responded in the affirmative to having received basic-training in oral-care.
72.4% of respondents stated that they would like to receive training in oral-care.
89.7% believed that brushing and flossing daily prevent gum disease.
79.3% agreed that dentures should be removed at night.
69.0% responded that the statement “If the residents gums bleed when you are brushing their teeth, you should stop brushing”, was true.
Conclusions: Training is inadequate and appears to be impacting upon knowledge, attitudes and beliefs negatively in certain key areas of oral-care. While attitude toward oral-care and the improving knowledge is positive, erroneous beliefs need addressing. Although the knowledge of caregivers is adequate in many aspects, there is still room for improving their awareness of appropriate practices for oral-care of residents in long-term-care-institutions.