Oral health care of stroke survivors : a closer look into dental and allied health collaboration

Abstract

Background and Objectives: In Hong Kong, rehabilitation service for stroke survivors is provided by a team of various healthcare professionals but there is no dentist. This project aimed to improve the oral health of stroke patients in Hong Kong by enhancing the multidisciplinary post-stroke care provided by allied health professionals. The objectives included to describe the current oral health care protocol for stroke patients, to propose a guideline for allied health workers in Hong Kong, and to educate allied health students on this aspect. Methods: Two rounds of interviews were conducted on three groups of allied health professionals, namely nurses, speech therapists (ST) and occupational therapists (OT), from a stroke rehabilitation centre in a public hospital so as to find out their practices regarding oral health of stroke patients under their care and their views on a draft guideline on this aspect which was developed in this project from a review of overseas guidelines and literature. Two identical online educational seminars were delivered to senior year nursing, ST and OT students regarding oral care for stroke survivors. A pre-seminar questionnaire was used to collect information on the students’ knowledge of and viewpoints regarding oral care of stroke patients. A post-seminar questionnaire was used to detect if there were changes in the students’ viewpoints after attending the seminar and to collect their feedback on the seminar. Results: After obtaining comments from the interviewed allied health professionals, the draft guideline regarding oral health of stroke patients was revised and a final version was developed and recommended for use by the healthcare workers in Hong Kong. A total of 35 students in the three selected allied health profession participated in the two online seminars. Most (>80%) of them agreed that oral health is an important component in stroke rehabilitation and that oral health is related to the general health of stroke patients. Only less than 30% of the students thought their undergraduate programme had provided them with enough knowledge regarding oral health care for stroke patients. In the post-seminar questionnaire, all of the participants indicated that they were satisfied with the online seminar and it would help them in their future practice regarding stroke patients. Conclusion and Recommendations: The current oral health care for stroke patients in the public healthcare sector in Hong Kong is inadequate and in this project a guideline adapted to the local situation has been developed and proposed for adoption by the allied health professionals. The educational seminars were well-accepted and useful for the participant nursing, ST and OT students. Organizing continuing medical education programmes with input from dentists for the practicing allied health workers in Hong Kong is recommended.