Perceptions of oral health promotion in primary schools among health and education officials, community leaders, policy makers, teachers, and parents in Gulu district, northern Uganda: A qualitative study.
<h4>Introduction</h4>One in every two cases of caries in deciduous teeth occurs in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). The aim of the World Health Organisation's (WHO) Healthy Schools Program is to improve the oral health of children. This study explored perceptions of impleme...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2023-01-01
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| Series: | PLoS ONE |
| Online Access: | https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0293761&type=printable |
| _version_ | 1797633198269661184 |
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| author | Peter Akera Sean E Kennedy Aletta E Schutte Robyn Richmond Michael Hodgins Raghu Lingam |
| author_facet | Peter Akera Sean E Kennedy Aletta E Schutte Robyn Richmond Michael Hodgins Raghu Lingam |
| author_sort | Peter Akera |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | <h4>Introduction</h4>One in every two cases of caries in deciduous teeth occurs in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). The aim of the World Health Organisation's (WHO) Healthy Schools Program is to improve the oral health of children. This study explored perceptions of implementation of the Ugandan oral health schools' program in Gulu district, northern Uganda.<h4>Methods</h4>Semi-structured interviews were conducted with a purposive sample of 19 participants including health and education officials, community leaders, policy makers, teachers, and parents. All interviews were transcribed verbatim and analysed thematically.<h4>Results</h4>Our study identified three themes: (1) components of oral health promotion, (2) implementation challenges of oral health promotion, and (3) development of an oral health policy. The components of oral health promotion in schools included engagement of health workers, the community, companies, skills-based education, and oral health services. Participants were concerned about insufficient funding, unsatisfactory skills-based education, and inadequate dental screening. Participants reported that there was an urgent need to develop oral health policy to guide implementation of the program at scale.<h4>Conclusions</h4>Schools provided oral health promotion that aligned with existing features of the WHO's health-promoting school framework. Implementation of this strategy could be enhanced with increased resources, adequate oral health education, and explicit development of oral health policy. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T11:50:36Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-448deb10439c47ba8e71049669792b39 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1932-6203 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T11:50:36Z |
| publishDate | 2023-01-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PLoS ONE |
| spelling | doaj.art-448deb10439c47ba8e71049669792b392023-11-09T05:32:23ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032023-01-011811e029376110.1371/journal.pone.0293761Perceptions of oral health promotion in primary schools among health and education officials, community leaders, policy makers, teachers, and parents in Gulu district, northern Uganda: A qualitative study.Peter AkeraSean E KennedyAletta E SchutteRobyn RichmondMichael HodginsRaghu Lingam<h4>Introduction</h4>One in every two cases of caries in deciduous teeth occurs in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). The aim of the World Health Organisation's (WHO) Healthy Schools Program is to improve the oral health of children. This study explored perceptions of implementation of the Ugandan oral health schools' program in Gulu district, northern Uganda.<h4>Methods</h4>Semi-structured interviews were conducted with a purposive sample of 19 participants including health and education officials, community leaders, policy makers, teachers, and parents. All interviews were transcribed verbatim and analysed thematically.<h4>Results</h4>Our study identified three themes: (1) components of oral health promotion, (2) implementation challenges of oral health promotion, and (3) development of an oral health policy. The components of oral health promotion in schools included engagement of health workers, the community, companies, skills-based education, and oral health services. Participants were concerned about insufficient funding, unsatisfactory skills-based education, and inadequate dental screening. Participants reported that there was an urgent need to develop oral health policy to guide implementation of the program at scale.<h4>Conclusions</h4>Schools provided oral health promotion that aligned with existing features of the WHO's health-promoting school framework. Implementation of this strategy could be enhanced with increased resources, adequate oral health education, and explicit development of oral health policy.https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0293761&type=printable |
| spellingShingle | Peter Akera Sean E Kennedy Aletta E Schutte Robyn Richmond Michael Hodgins Raghu Lingam Perceptions of oral health promotion in primary schools among health and education officials, community leaders, policy makers, teachers, and parents in Gulu district, northern Uganda: A qualitative study. PLoS ONE |
| title | Perceptions of oral health promotion in primary schools among health and education officials, community leaders, policy makers, teachers, and parents in Gulu district, northern Uganda: A qualitative study. |
| title_full | Perceptions of oral health promotion in primary schools among health and education officials, community leaders, policy makers, teachers, and parents in Gulu district, northern Uganda: A qualitative study. |
| title_fullStr | Perceptions of oral health promotion in primary schools among health and education officials, community leaders, policy makers, teachers, and parents in Gulu district, northern Uganda: A qualitative study. |
| title_full_unstemmed | Perceptions of oral health promotion in primary schools among health and education officials, community leaders, policy makers, teachers, and parents in Gulu district, northern Uganda: A qualitative study. |
| title_short | Perceptions of oral health promotion in primary schools among health and education officials, community leaders, policy makers, teachers, and parents in Gulu district, northern Uganda: A qualitative study. |
| title_sort | perceptions of oral health promotion in primary schools among health and education officials community leaders policy makers teachers and parents in gulu district northern uganda a qualitative study |
| url | https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0293761&type=printable |
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