Effectiveness Of An Oral Health Care Training Programme For Teachers

BACKGROUND: School teachers play a key role in imparting correct and up to date knowledge to pupils and students. However, most teachers in developing countries like Nigeria, have poor knowledge, motivation and inadequate training in oral health, this necessitated the provision and evaluation of an oral health training programme. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the effectiveness of an oral health care training programme organized for teachers in Eruwa, Oyo State, Nigeria. METHODS: A cross sectional study was conducted among school teachers who attended an oral health training workshop. Pre- and post- evaluation written tests were administered to the participants to assess the effectiveness of the training received. The questions covered knowledge, attitude and practices related to oral health. Frequencies and percentages of relevant variables were generated. Chi-square test was used to test association between categorical variables. P<0.05. RESULT: A total of 40 teachers attended the training and their mean age was 40.13 years. There were 16 males and 24 females. The mean scores of the pre- and post-evaluation tests conducted were 41.1% and 60.8% respectively. Using a rating scale <50% - poor, 50 -60% fair, >60%-good, 60% of the participants were noted to have poor pre-training knowledge as compared to 17.5% after the training. 32.5% had fair pre-training knowledge as compared to 42.5% post training and 2.5% of the participants had good knowledge pre-training as compared to 45% post- training. CONCLUSION: A training workshop has significant effect on the knowledge base, attitude and practices of teachers regarding oral health education. The workshop is an effective tool to use to promote oral health.