An assessment model of oral health-care. Its design and translation for decision-making.

Keywords: Research translation- Assessment model- Oral health care         
Objective: To develop a model to assess oral health-care as a strategy for education-sanitary decision making. Theoretical-methodological framework: Health is the result of the interaction among genes, the social model, life-style, and the perceptions that show how the health-disease-health care process is analyzed by individuals and society. (Contandriopoulos, 2006). The following methodological moments were evaluated: (1) development of the assessment model (AM); (2) selection of the geographical base in the county and sub-bases in institutions and in the community to be studied by means of geo-referencing studies; (3) application and analysis of the AM. The designed AM involved: (a) gathering secondary data from demographic and statistical records of the public and private sub-sectors; (b) validating and applying a questionnaire for oral health-care users (EGOHID II; 2008);  (c) interviewing key informers. Quantitative and qualitative techniques were used to analyze data (frequency of presenting complaints, relevance of resolution profile, discourse analysis of interviews). The problems were categorized using ad hoc matrices. Application of the model showed: weaknesses in the joint functioning of needs/services offered; threats due to the fragility of physical and financial resources and lack of clinical protocols approved by consensus; strengths based on the existence of preventive programs and social nets with strong local anchorage; and opportunities due to the capacity of the Local Health Councils for community participation. Conclusions: The assessment model applied herein allows performing causal analysis of the sanitary problems at the local level to address the design of projects on evidence-based political-sanitary interventions.  UBACYT R 001 – UBANEX