Perception of oral health in home care of caregivers of the elderly

Abstract Objective: to analyze the perception of caregivers of elderly persons regarding their own oral health care and that of the elderly individuals. Method: a descriptive-exploratory study with a qualitative approach was carried out. Semi-structured interviews with 13 caregivers were conducted, recorded and transcribed, and the Content Analysis technique was applied. Results: All respondents were informal caregivers, most of whom were female, aged over 50, married, had some degree of kinship with those receiving care, an incomplete elementary school education and no other occupation or job. After analyzing the interviews, the data were grouped into the following categories: a) home visits and health professionals; b) caregiver experience and care of the elderly; and c) the caregiver and their self-care. Conclusion: knowledge of caregivers’ perception of their own oral health and that of dependent/semi-dependent elderly persons assists in planning, promotion, prevention and health recovery. The work of a multi-professional team is therefore essential in the seeking out and instruction of these individuals.

摘要
研究目的：分析老年照护者对自身口腔健康照护以及被照护老年群体口腔健康照护的认知状况。
研究方法：本研究采用质性研究范式，开展描述性探索性研究。对13名照护者实施半结构化访谈，对访谈内容进行录音与转录，并应用内容分析法进行资料分析。
研究结果：所有受访者均为非正式照护者，其中以女性居多，年龄均在50岁以上，已婚，与被照护者存在一定亲属关系，未完成初等教育且无其他职业。经对访谈资料分析后，研究数据被归纳为以下三类：a）家庭访视与卫生专业人员；b）照护者的照护体验与老年照护工作；c）照护者的自我照护。
研究结论：明确照护者对自身以及依赖型/半依赖型老年群体口腔健康的认知情况，有助于制定健康规划、开展健康促进、疾病预防与康复工作。因此，多专业团队的协作在对这类人群开展健康寻访与指导工作中至关重要。