Nsw early childhood oral health program

This would ensure that all nurses were provided with updates on the program and that their practice was underpinned by the latest evidence in this area. Although not mentioned in the findings, the medium of training could also be changed to an online program which would provide CFHNs with the flexibility to access training at any time or place convenient without needing to rely on the ECOH coordinator.

This would also help expand the scope of the ECOH program to rural areas without any additional resources required. Currently, online training programs in oral health have been used successfully in Australia with other health professionals midwives [ 37 , 38 ] and are an option that should be considered for the ECOH program in the near future.

An online program previously existed for doctors through the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners but is now no longer available. Lastly, the inclusion of general practitioners, practice nurses or nurse practitioners within the ECOH program was highlighted as an important strategy to improve the effectiveness and reach of health promotion initiatives. This inclusion of GPs or practice nurses or nurse practitioners in general practice in the promotion, assessment, and referral of children with ECC is well supported in the literature [ 34 , 41 , 42 ] and is advocated in the ECOH program guidelines [ 13 ].

However, there is limited information on whether GPs or other health professionals have adopted the ECOH program successfully and further research is this area is recommended. Although not the focus of this study, one of the limitations is that neither the initial evaluation of the ECOH program [ 14 ] nor this qualitative study has examined the effectiveness of the ECOH program in reducing ECC rates in children.

One of the challenges completing an evaluation of this kind is the variation in the uptake of the ECOH program among various local health districts in the state making it difficult to do targeted analysis using population data. Secondly, only two focus groups were conducted in this study and so data saturation may not have been achieved and the findings may not fully represent CFHNs in the health district. Another limitation is that the setting for this study was in an area characterised by a large population of families from culturally and linguistically diverse and socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds.

Hence, the findings may not reflect all children and health services within NSW, particularly those from more advantaged communities. This study suggests that CFHNs have successfully increased their scope of practice and readily adopted the ECOH program providing vital oral health education, assessments and referrals to children in South Western Sydney.

Some challenges have been identified that need to be further explored including broadening the scope of the program to include general practice. Information campaigns within general practices or antenatal clinics may be an appropriate setting to further promote oral health In addition, improvements in referral and feedback processes as well as enhanced parental knowledge of the importance of infant oral health could further strengthen the effectiveness of the program.

Approaches to managing non-attendance require further investigation. Nevertheless it is clear that the ECOH program is being translated into practice and the next step should be to undertake a comprehensive evaluation to assess whether there is any improvement in the ECC rates of children as a result of the implementation of this program.

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Educ Inf. Plutzer K, Spencer AJ. Sign in. About the course. Register for the course. A healthy mouth is important as it allows us to smile, speak and eat with confidence and without pain.

Many oral health diseases can be prevented by changing to healthier habits which also improve your general health and wellbeing. Western Sydney Local Health District is committed to promoting oral health.

These sessions are available in-person or online for your professional or community group. Sessions can be tailored for your needs, and can include education on:. This course is suitable for childcare workers, dental and medical practitioners, nurses, midwives and allied health professionals.

Free online training is available to any professional working with children, and a supplementary face-to-face training is also available for Western Sydney Local Health District WSLHD staff. Referred children have twice as much tooth decay as children attending the School Dental Service who have not been referred.

The Program has been successful in increasing the number of preschoolers accessing the School Dental Service. Contact for further information: Kerry Clifford - kerry. Reports or publications from program: A range of resources to support the program can be found on the SA Health website. Coordinates: The University of Adelaide. All University Sites. Current Site. Oral Health Promotion Clearinghouse Unit.