Developing competencies for the dental care of people with sensory disabilities: A pilot inclusive approach

Abstract

Objectives: Different training programs for healthcare students that have a bio-psychosocial approach have been reported to have a significant beneficial impact on their education, attitudes and competencies towards Persons with Disabilities. In Chile, however, there are no explicit legal obligations to provide healthcare professionals with the skills required to offer their services in public or private healthcare facilities to Persons with Disabilities. Given this situation, a pilot one-semester elective course for dental students was carried out focusing on people with visual disabilities and people with hearing disabilities, incorporating Deaf and blind teachers. The aim of this paper is to describe the perceptions and results of this pilot course aimed at identifying and responding to the healthcare needs of people with v a pilot one-semester elective course for dental students was carried out focusing on people with visual disabilities and people with hearing disabilities, incorporating Deaf and blind teachers. isual or hearing disability. Materials and methods: A multi-strategy 17-week elective course was carried out in the first semester of Dentistry School with 14 students enrolled. Educational strategies used were lectures, guided discussion (GD), role-play (RP), standardized patients (SP) and case method teaching (CM), with the participation of deaf and blind teachers. Once the program had finished, the students answered a survey designed with open-ended questions, and GD, RP, SP, CM, attendance and grades obtained were recorded and analyzed. Results: Attendance was 82–100%. All students passed the course with the highest score, and thus were able to define the medical approach needed in cases of hearing and visual disability, recognize the cultural and linguistic aspects of people with visual disability and people with hearing disability and learn their means of communication. Conclusions: This course was successful in helping the students to identify and respond to the healthcare needs of people with visual or hearing disability.