Abstract
Purpose. To evaluate the impact of an educational workshop on parental knowledge, attitude, and perceived behavioral control regarding their child’s oral health. Materials and Methods. A one-time oral health education workshop including audio/visual and hands-on components was conducted by a trained dentist and bilingual community workers in community locations. Participants were African parents of children who had lived in Canada for less than ten years. The impact of the workshop was evaluated by a questionnaire developed based on the theory of planned behavior. Results. A total of 105 parents participated in this study. Participants were mainly mothers (mean age 35.03±5.4 years) who came to Canada as refugee (77.1%) and had below high school education (70%). Paired t-test showed a significant difference in participants’ knowledge of caries, preventive measures, and benefits of regular dental visits after the workshop (P value<0.05). A significant improvement was also found in parental attitudes toward preventive measures and their perceived behavioral control (P<0.05). Parents’ intention to take their child to a dentist within six months significantly altered after the workshop (P value<0.05). Conclusions. A one-time hands-on training was effective in improving parental knowledge, attitude, perceived behavioral control, and intention with respect to their child’s oral health and preventive dental visits in African immigrants.
Highlights
Newcomers in Canada have been recognized to be at higher risk for dental disease and many other health problems at large [1]
The intervention was in a form of a three-hour oral health education workshop involving a series of PowerPoint slides emphasizing the importance of oral health in general and baby teeth in particular
Intervention was in a form of a half-day session of oral health education including three-hour interactive discussion
Summary
Newcomers in Canada have been recognized to be at higher risk for dental disease and many other health problems at large [1]. With regard to dental health, lack of dental insurance was found to play a big role in the high prevalence of dental disease in this population [1]. Even for those who had dental coverage through a governmental health benefit program, the underutilization of dental services for younger children has been very common especially the preventive services [2]. Measures need to be taken to enhance the understanding of dental diseases and the importance of prevention among recent immigrants
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