Background: There is little information on how the quality of oral health services in long-term care (LTC) facilities is conceptualized or assessed.
Objectives: This study aims to develop a model for assessing the quality of oral healthcare services in LTC facilities.
Methods: This study is divided into four main steps. Firstly, I examined literature for existing concepts relating to program evaluation and quality assessment in healthcare to build a theoretical framework appropriate to dental geriatrics. Secondly, I explored as an ethnographic case study a comprehensive oral healthcare program within a single administrative group of 5 LTC facilities in a large metropolis by interviewing 33 participants, including residents and their families, nursing staff, administrators and dental personnel. I also examined policy documents and made site visits to identify other attributes influencing the quality of the program. Thirdly, I drafted the assessment model combining a theoretical framework with empirical information from the case study. And lastly, I tested the feasibility and usability of the model in another dental geriatric program in northern British Columbia. I applied the assessment model by conducting 15 interviews with participants in the program, made site-visits to the 5 facilities, and reviewed documents on the development and operation of the program.
Results: A combination of theory-based evaluation and quality assurance provided six sequential and iterative steps for quality assessment of oral health services in LTC. The empirical information supported the theoretical framework that a program of oral healthcare in a LTC context should be assessed for quality from multiple perspectives; it should be comprehensive; and it should include the three main attributes of quality - capacity, performance, and outcomes. Participants revealed 20 quality indicators along with suggested program objectives which encompass eight quality dimensions such as effectiveness, efficiency, and patient-centered.
Conclusion: The model provides a unique system for assessing the quality of dental services in LTC facilities that seems to meet the needs of dental and non-dental personnel in LTC.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:BVAU.2429/1529 |
| Date | 11 1900 |
| Creators | Pruksapong, Matana |
| Publisher | University of British Columbia |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
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