Intervención para a Educación en Saúde Oral

Intervention for Oral Health Education

• Two complementary approaches exist for developing oral health education: individual and group.

Individual Education Program (EpS)

• Characteristics: Delivered through individual consultations, suitable for post-diagnostic phases needing lifestyle change. Divided into stages: immediate (essential knowledge), basic (fundamental knowledge), and advanced (optimal knowledge). Sessions should follow a logical order.

• Orientations: Begin by assessing the learner's existing knowledge, values, and skills. Use clear, individual-appropriate language. Explain the "why" and "how" of the information. Address all questions. Summarize key points and record session details for future reference. Evaluate previous session learnings through questions and observations. User participation and feedback are encouraged.

• Advantages: Personalized attention, tailored pace matching the learner's individual needs. More flexible and open to adjustments. Enables closer personal interaction, facilitating direct questions and addressing concerns.

• Disadvantages: Potential for slower progress and learner fatigue. Increased trust between educators and learners could affect objectivity. Isolates the problem, hindering opportunities for peer support. Potential difficulty in involving family in developing healthy habits.

Group Education Program (EpS)

• Characteristics: Conducted in health centers or community settings. Best implemented after an individual programme. Shared responsibility among healthcare professionals (doctors, nurses, social workers, etc.).

• Orientations: Focuses on practical demonstrations and collective problem-solving, emphasizing shared experiences and opinions to boost engagement and motivation. Group discussion fosters interactive approaches. This method does not replace individual sessions, but rather serves as a reinforcement and follow-up to individual learning. It fosters interpersonal communication and strengthens family involvement when appropriate.

• Advantages: Increased active involvement in self-care. Reinforcement of positive changes and sustained progress. Empowers learners to make decisions. Facilitates shared learning which leads to lasting change. Improving accessibility with flexible scheduling to suit professional and learner availability.

• Disadvantages: Challenges in harmonizing the group dynamics. May limit learning to the baseline of the group which can exclude certain learners. Scheduling conflicts and varying educational levels in the group can present challenges.

Techniques Used in Oral Health Education Programs (EpS)

• Classification: Five categories of techniques exist: investigation in the classroom, presentation, analysis, skill development, and additional methods.

• Investigation in the classroom: Helpful for expressing, reflecting on, and organizing knowledge, experiences, and emotions. A springboard to future analysis (comparison, data collection).

• Presentations: Helpful in conveying information, ideas, and concepts. Supports the cognitive understanding of the group.

• Analysis: Useful for exploring multiple perspectives. Examines factors leading to conclusions, evaluates different possibilities to help identify solutions, and fosters the development of emotional intelligence.

• Skills development: Centers on the practical application of specific skills in real-world situations.

• Additional methods: Methods beyond the four include group projects (large and small), exercises, games, and homework.