Evaluation of an oral health care program among bed bound elderly in Lampang province

Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate the oral health care program for bed-bound elderly in Lampang province using the CIPP model. The study population was 198 health personnel involved in oral health care operations for the bed bound elderly, consisting of 1) head of dental health subdivision, 2) dental personnel performing elderly care, 3) dental personnel responsible for home visits to the bed bound elderly, 4) personnel responsible for the elderly care at district level 5) elderly care manager in sub-district health promoting hospitals. Data were collected through questionnaires and lesson-learned conferences. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and content analysis. The result revealed that concept, process, and output evaluation were at a highly appropriate level, and input evaluation was moderately appropriate. This finding showed that the relevant personnel knew about the project objective. The assignment of dental personnel to work as a multidisciplinary team enabled the elderly to obtain holistic care and improve their oral hygiene. However, budget and resources were still insufficient. Weaknesses included a lack of rigorous monitoring and the fact that the oral health strategy was not a key issue at the provincial level. As a result, the workload of oral health care was still the responsibility of dental personnel, which is insufficient numbers. The development plan was suggested based on the findings that 1) the provincial declaration of oral health care as an important issue of primary care service, 2) developing manual/work guidelines together with promoting the competence of elderly care managers.