Planning Health

Education/ Promotion
Program
 Planning Health Education/
Promotion program
1- Sensitization
a process by which people are made aware
of existence Of certain things:
-Behavior
-Disease
-Service

2- Publicity
Elaboration of sensitization procedure
(usually this is done before implementation
of your health program)
 Steps for Planning health
education/ promotion program

Identifying the needs -1

Establishing objective -2
Activities -3
Resources -4
Identifying the constraints -5
Setting for health education -6
Evaluation -7
 Identifying the needs -1
To find out:
Present of oral condition -1
Knowledge about oral health& hygiene -2
practice
3- actual oral health & hygiene practices
4- Knowledge about other information in
maintaining oral health
Through:
I- Interview
2- Written questions
3- Demonstrations of his practices
4-Clinical examinations of the oral cavity
 Establishing objective -2

Should be written in manner by which

they can be measured or
determined when they are achieved
 3- Activities
Should be based on established available
resources:
1- Personal: the dentist, hygienist,
classroom teacher...
2- Audiovisual aids
3- Health education material
 4- Resources

Selected In relation to special need -1

Create awareness, attract attention, -2
arouse curiosity, give information
5- Identifying the constraints

Constraint are limiting factors or

factors that may stop or slow down
project such as time schedule,
tradition, facilities & number of
targets
6- Setting for health education

Wide variety of setting

 7- Evaluation
Measuring the effect of dental health
education
*areas to be evaluated:
1- Knowledge
2- Compliance to introduction
3- Behavioral change
4- Incidence
DENTAL HEALTH
EDUCATION
Knowledge gaps concerning a number of
preventive procedures have been found
among researchers, practitioners, and
patients

Also lack of consensus between researchers and

practitioners can be a major barrier to more effective
promotion of caries prevention
 A relatively low
level of serious
oral disease in the
community does not
always reflect
positive dental
attitudes
One of the major goals of
oral health education is
Promotion of self-care

When incipient disease cannot be

recognized, there will naturally be
inadequate self-care
 It is a basic precept that
everyone has a right to the
best available knowledge
about caring for her own
health
The most intensive form
of oral health education
is one-to-one instruction
 “Empty vessel” approach

the patient is empty, and waiting for(

"the health professional to "pour in
)the knowledge
The principles of oral health
education :

1-People interpret health messages

through the "filter" of their own values
and attitudes. These need to be
understood, as far as possible, if the
educational process is to have any
chance of success
2-The most successful
education maximizes
self-involvement 0f the
participants
3-mass media are effective in
transmitting simple and
consistent messages their value
in influencing health behavior
seems limited.
They have been found effective
in some behavior change related
to cardiovascular disease, but
less so for oral conditions
4- Health professionals have
to accept that not all people
share their values about the
importance of physical health.
An acceptance of all
components of wellness will
help in dealing with the
infinite variety of human
beliefs on health
5- Dental health education
programs can improve knowledge
and temporarily improve oral
hygiene, but they have failed to
demonstrate any direct effect on
canes experience
Searching review of dental
:health education outcomes
(a) educational programs work well at
improving knowledge levels;
(b) they have a positive but temporary
effect on plaque levels; and
(c) have no discernible effect on caries
experience.
 Also the more successful
approaches, as shown by
evaluations of teachers,
administrators, and by the oral
health of participants,
use a fair degree of active
involvement
As a consequence the" SHOW &
TELL” approach has now evolved
into programs of “SHOW & DO”
 Historically dental health
education for children has been
a high priority for the dental
profession because of the high
prevalence of dental caries in
this age group
 The school dental health
program provides an opportunity
to reach the largest number of
children during early stages of
development when habit can
more easily be modified or
changed
School-based oral health
education programs

Are aimed at more cohesive groups

rather than at the public at large
 Fundamental components of a
school-based program for the
promotion of oral health have been
described as :
1- Oral health services, meaning: preventive
procedures, health screening and treatment,
referral, and follow-up

2- Health instruction, to include both personal

and community health topics

3- A healthy environment, with attention to all

aspects of the school environment that could
affect the health of students or school
personnel
PROMOTING WATER
FLUORIDATION
 PROMOTING WATER
FLUORIDATION

Helps professionals to promote oral

health at the community levels
 It is the responsibility of the
dentists and hygienists to
educate their patients about
what fluoridation is and who
benefits from it , to have
patients support this preventive
measure
To do so both should know all
about this issue in their area

(e.g. the concentration of fluoride in

their own community's drinking water,
cost estimates for fluoridating such a
community, ect)
A thoughtful study from the
1960s, found that political
efforts of dentists and other
professionals in a local
fluoridation campaign got
unfavorable reactions for two
reasons:
1-The community expected partisans
in a political campaign to be
motivated by self-interest and to
conduct a propaganda campaign to
further those interests. Because the
health professionals supporting
fluoridation were seen as political
partisans, their endorsements of
fluoridation were not accepted as
dispassionate expert testimony.
2-Second, their efforts to
maintain professional decorum
and to avoid the hurly-burly
of open controversy were
interpreted as arrogance.
Same study suggests that in a fluoridation
referendum, the health professionals can
not expect to maintain a detached role,
and referendum tactics must be
structured accordingly

Political tactics vary with each community;

(there is no cookbook), although there are
some standard issues

To do so a hired political expert and

consultant in such organizations can be
helpful
 Any health issue that involves politics
demands the use of the media,
publicity, education, intensive door-
to-door canvassing, telephone
campaigns, and getting out the vote on
polling day

Above all, it means consistent hard

work over a long period and starting
with solid preparation