Neami National is a non-government organisation that supports Australians living with a mental illness. The objective of our student placement was to develop an oral health promotion program which aimed to address the oral health needs and concerns of Neami consumers.
Method:
An initial needs analysis was conducted at Ashfield & Pagewood with Neami National consumers. Staff members were encouraged to identify key areas of concern regarding consumers’ oral health. The findings were used to develop a 30 minute staff presentation and resource package. Impact evaluation was determined via pre- and post-presentation questionnaires in which staff selected responses distributed along a five-point Likert scale.
Result:
20 staff attended the presentation. 65% of respondents “Strongly Agreed” and 35% “Agreed” that their knowledge and understanding of how risk factors affects oral health had improved, versus the pre-test values of 15% and 50%, respectively. The post-evaluation reported no “Uncertainty” with knowledge and understanding amongst staff post-presentation. Staff felt the resource package provided to them would benefit the consumers and staff alike. Staff commented it was important to create a program that gave purpose and was relatable for Neami consumers.
Multiple sites, time constraints, initial staff uncertainty with communicating oral health advice to consumers and willingness of consumers to be interviewed were barriers to achieving outcomes. Furthermore, it was reported that some participants were overly confident in their ranking of knowledge in the pre-questionnaire which obscured true changes in knowledge improvement.
Conclusion:
Implementation of the oral health program gave staff more confidence with providing oral health advice and has increased their knowledge and understanding of oral health promotion.