Oral Wellness: Using Occupational Therapy to Enhance Oral Hygiene Delivery in Long-Term Care

Based on current literature, oral health in long-term care (LTC) facilities is frequently of low priority and does not follow evidence-based best practices. Poor oral health reduces the quality of life of older adult patients and can lead to systemic diseases, such as cardiovascular disease, stroke, and pneumonia which is the leading cause of death in LTC. Occupational therapists can play an instrumental role as oral care consultants, and educators to raise the standards of oral care in LTC facilities. This capstone project explored ways in which occupational therapy can improve oral care in LTC facilities. The proposed solution was a comprehensive toolkit to equip occupational therapists in implementing an evidence-based oral care clinical pathway in LTC. The toolkit contained information and forms to establish necessary support structures for oral care, such as evidence-based policy and practices, documentation, educational in-service materials, and a list of specialized skills unique to occupational therapy. The project was modified to provide an educational in-service to the certified nurse assistants on daily oral-care delivery with measurements on short and long-term effects from the in-service. Results indicated that educational in-services may help improve oral care delivery in LTC facilities. The project team recommends that future projects include the complete oral care toolkit, including the educational in-services, and a tracking tool to further promote evidence-based oral care delivery in LTC facilities