Brad Richardson, research director and Anne Abbott, research specialist at the National Resource Center for Family Centered Practice presented the results of a recent evaluation of a project aimed at promoting healthy outcomes for residents of long-term care facilities at the 2017 Annual Conference of the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE) in Boise, Idaho. The training project was aimed at teaching direct care workers (DCWs) basic dental assessment skills to prevent poor oral health outcomes and associated diseases. The American Dental Association has found that poor oral health among the elderly in long-term care is pervasive and is linked to aspiration pneumonia among other systemic health problems. The cost associated with aspiration pneumonia in nursing homes alone makes the study of oral health particularly appealing to the field of long-term care.

Significant gains in knowledge about oral health among direct care workers were found post-training, and at follow-up on free recall and guided assessments. Modest changes in DCWs day-to-day practices were found as were small organizational changes occurred in some facilities.

The evaluation and implementation of this program was funded by Delta Dental of Iowa Foundation. It built off of several prior projects that involved building the capacity of DCWs in Iowa.

For more information on this project and the NRC’s work around DCW workforce development or improving the health of seniors, please visit our full list of research and evaluation projects or contact Research Director Brad Richardson.