Janet Wallace
The University of Newcastle, Australia.
Title: Dental hygiene student placement in residential aged care facilities: what do the students gain from the placement experience?
Biography
Biography: Janet Wallace
Abstract
Aim: The aim of this study was to determine whether dental hygiene students from the University of Newcastle, Australia, attending residential aged care facilities (RACFs) during a placement program gained any knowledge about the oral care of elderly patients and the RACF environment. Method: Final year dental hygiene students undertook a 12-week placement, one day per week, in one of 17 residential aged care facilities on the NSW Central Coast. Students completed pre and post-placement questionnaires, which recorded their knowledge of medical, dental and environmental issues related to older people. The placement questionnaires usedfive point Likert scales, ranging from strongly agree to strongly disagree, pre- and post-mean scores were produced for each question and P values calculated using a paired t-test. Results: Thirty three students attended the placement, 26 (79%) completed both the pre- and post-placement questionnaires. Post-placement mean scores as compared to pre-placement mean scores showed significant improvement in student knowledge of medical (P < 0.05) and dental (P < 0.05) conditions specific to the older person and improvement in knowledge (P < 0.05) about the residential aged care facility environment. Conclusion: The placement program enhanced student knowledge across three subject categories; medical and dental conditions of the older person and the structure and services of the residential aged care environment.
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