Introduction
Oral health means having healthy teeth and having no teeth disease. It entails the ability of individuals to carry out important functions like eating and speaking as well as contributing fully to the society. As such Australia’s National Oral Health Plan 2004-2013 is a plan whose main objective was to advance health and wellbeing across the Australian population by civilizing oral health status and reducing the burden of oral disease. With this plan, positive messages like ‘Healthy Mouth Healthy Lives’ are always promoted to the whole population, but most especially, to the vulnerable groups in the society and eases the way these groups accesses oral health treatment. That being the case, this essay deepens its interest on action area three that comprises all of the older people aged 65 years and more. The above group was chosen since more effort was required to maintain high levels of general health, quality life, nutrition and social interactions. That is not all, performance of the plan had to be assessed. Therefore, an investigative walk was conducted in a Residential Aged Care Facility (RACF) to affirm the success obtained.
Overview and Discussion
- Who is responsible for the implementation of the plan
A broad range of stakeholders is held responsible to the implementation of this plan. The groups involved comprises the States and Territories, the Commonwealth and the tertiary dental education sector who are responsible for increasing the training of oral health providers. Also, they are the ones responsible to provide funds needed to implement this plan. “The Commonwealth and all states and territories agreed to establish a National Advisory Committee on Oral Health (NAHOC).” (AHMAC, 2000).
- Has the plan been implemented?
Yes, the oral health plan has been implemented.
It was noted that the plan had been implemented since every AHS (Area Health Service) developed its own distinctive AHS Oral Health Promotion Implementation Plan. Also, every AHS was to be held responsible for the annual monitoring and evaluation of their AHS Oral Health Promotion implementation Plans which would be reported yearly against NSW Oral Health Promotion Network. Through the yearly monitoring and evaluation of the plan, areas of action as well as new priorities that needed to be incorporated were noted and worked on. Also, some improvements were noted like inclusion of oral health assessment in the existing assessment systems for older adults in the community to identify with risk of oral disease. Furthermore, there was improvement of oral health care for every person in the RACF since there were free annual check-ups and personal care plans for people in nursing homes.
Moreover, oral screening was being carried out by an oral health professional on admission to RACF on a regular manner.
- Has the implementation been different across Australia and do states have their own plans?
As projected earlier in this writing, every AHS was to develop its unique AHS Oral Health Promotion Plan and it was to be held responsible for annual monitoring and evaluation of their plan. As such, the National Plan was implemented to different Australian states which include Victoria, South Australia, and Tasmania.
Victoria
In Victoria, the action plan for oral health promotion 2013-2017 is based on extensive consultation coordinated by Dental Health Services Victoria (DHSV), Victoria’s leading agency in oral health promotion. This plan focuses on five action areas;
- Building partnership and environments that support good oral health.
- Strengthen prevention and early intervention programs.
- Improve oral health promotion skills within the workforce.
- Improve oral health literacy.
- Improve population data on oral health status and enhance oral health promotion research.
South Australia’s Oral Health plan 2010-2017
The South Austria’s Oral Health plan was developed within the framework of the National Plan as well as South Australia’s Health Care Plan 2007-2016. “This plan outlines a stepped approach to resources that are intended to promote oral health and treat oral diseases for the whole population.”(Adelaide, 2009). This plan outlined a reform agenda which aimed to ensure that all South Australians have access to quality, safe, complete and affordable health care.
Tasmania Oral Health Promotion Strategic Plan 2012-2017
The Oral Health Services Tasmania (OHST) is a health promotion plan which complements and supports care that OHST provides and will initially target disadvantaged, indigenous groups of people in the Tasmanian population. In addition, “this plan provides a coordinated, equitable, and supporting structure for the state of Tasmania that will work towards: Empowering all Tasmanians, especially the most vulnerable to be active partners in managing their own oral health and wellbeing” (Oral Health promotion strategy plan, 2012-2017).
- Is there any evidence supporting an improvement in oral health?
- Is there evidence of any oral health promotion activity or projects to support the plan?
Various projects are being set-up by different organizations to support this plan. These projects are categorized as either short term, medium term, or long term projects. For instance, a short term project by COHS is “to provide staff who work with older people in Nursing Homes with expert advice and assistance in implementing the oral health care plans prepared for residents”(Oral Health promotion strategy plan, 2012-2017).
- What should be included in the next National Oral Health Plan?
The following should be done in the next National Oral Plan:
- Develop and expand on programs that focus on the oral health risk factors of the older adult the community and in residential care.
- Support and advocate for the expansion of the better oral health in residential care project.
- Continue to encourage and support training of aged care workers and appointing oral care champions for older people in a residential area.
- What needs to happen to a new plan to be implemented successfully?
For a new plan to be implemented successfully, intense support from government and state is needed. By so doing, the plan will be well funded as well as job opportunities created such that a large number of professionals are employed to serve the large number of people with oral diseases. Also, the organizations that has projects to help in implementing the plan should as well be funded.
Conclusion
In conclusion, therefore, oral health of older population needs to be addressed with the seriousness it deserves. The organizations involved in carrying out this plan should ensure that they are working towards the set-up goals and aims.
In addition, the proposed steps for the next plan should be evaluated to check whether they will solve the problems that the previous plan failed to implement.
On top of these, the government should start up new plans that will help it fight the oral diseases as in the case of Australia. Also, the number of dentists in hospitals should be increased to ensure that any arising issue concerning oral health is addressed with immediate effect.
Recommendations
The following should be done to curb the issue of oral health amongst the older people.
- The government should ensure that health services are provided in the best way.
- In addition, the government should fight some chronic diseases which cause oral diseases like diabetes that affects the gum that supports teeth.
- Also, the government should increase the number of employees who can attend to older people comfortably at their homes or RACF.
- More so, the government should support communities to advocate for fluoridation of public water supplies through Local Government Areas (LGAs)be encouraged throughout the country as it helps in improving oral health.
- In addition, supportive environment should be created by improving the care coordination between the GPs and oral health providers.
Reference List
Carter, K. D., Spencer, A. J., Wright, C., King, L.,& Chalmers, J. M., May 12th, 2009.Caring for oral health in Australian residential care.
Adelaide, 17–18 September, 2009. Report of the Workshop on Monitoring of Australia’s National Oral Health Plan.
Ageing and Aged Care Branch, Wellbeing, Integrated Care and Ageing Division, 29th April, 2014.Victorian government health information.
Centre for Oral Health Strategy (NSW); December, 2010.NSW Oral Health Strategic Directions 2011 – 2020.
Framework for action 2010; May 2006, NSW Oral Health Promotion.3
