Developing an Oral Health Program for 4-5 year old children: promoting health at day-care
Arnau Martín, Irene (2012)
Arnau Martín, Irene
Laurea-ammattikorkeakoulu
2012
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2012112716921
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2012112716921
Tiivistelmä
Oral affections represent one of the most important problems of health in our society. Early childhood caries can be prevented by healthy habits and the school age is a perfect moment to acquire that knowledge. Various scientists and organizations have determined the need of promoting oral health at a young age and nurses are health professionals who play an important role providing expertise and leading change towards health.
This paper is a health promotion initiative which focuses on creating an oral health program (OHP) for early childhood educators to be used at day-care. The program attempts to improve children’s oral health by attractive and fun educational activities. The approach of the OHP is based on social-constructivist learning theories and it is also connected to the Early Years Foundation Stage Framework.
The method used for the design of the OHP was action research and the cycle followed four different phases (1) identification, (2) design of the program, (3) evaluation and (4) imple-mentation. To assess the OHP four early childhood educators (n=4) were selected from two different settings in Helsinki (Finland). The data was collected by worksheets and semi-structured interviews with the participants. The data obtained by the two different methods was analyzed by deductive and inductive content analysis in two different phases.
The most valuable finding was the creation of the OHP itself. In the evaluation of the OHP the results showed that the objectives and activities were appropriate for the children’s age, the methods proposed for the evaluation were formal and technical and the program can be implemented either in an intensive week or approached in sessions during some time. Besides that, the educators found very important and useful to go through the contents included in the OHP with the children. Finally, the attributes given to the program were engaging, informative and practical.
Oral health is a topic that should be included to promote health at day-care. Finding the moment when the children are interested and combining adult directed activities with children’s exploration is very important. Educators would like that health professionals create health education programs that they can adapt and implement in day-care considering the needs of the children. Working the oral health topic at day care is essential but taking into account that the parents are the main figures to teach good habits and prevent oral diseases.
This paper is a health promotion initiative which focuses on creating an oral health program (OHP) for early childhood educators to be used at day-care. The program attempts to improve children’s oral health by attractive and fun educational activities. The approach of the OHP is based on social-constructivist learning theories and it is also connected to the Early Years Foundation Stage Framework.
The method used for the design of the OHP was action research and the cycle followed four different phases (1) identification, (2) design of the program, (3) evaluation and (4) imple-mentation. To assess the OHP four early childhood educators (n=4) were selected from two different settings in Helsinki (Finland). The data was collected by worksheets and semi-structured interviews with the participants. The data obtained by the two different methods was analyzed by deductive and inductive content analysis in two different phases.
The most valuable finding was the creation of the OHP itself. In the evaluation of the OHP the results showed that the objectives and activities were appropriate for the children’s age, the methods proposed for the evaluation were formal and technical and the program can be implemented either in an intensive week or approached in sessions during some time. Besides that, the educators found very important and useful to go through the contents included in the OHP with the children. Finally, the attributes given to the program were engaging, informative and practical.
Oral health is a topic that should be included to promote health at day-care. Finding the moment when the children are interested and combining adult directed activities with children’s exploration is very important. Educators would like that health professionals create health education programs that they can adapt and implement in day-care considering the needs of the children. Working the oral health topic at day care is essential but taking into account that the parents are the main figures to teach good habits and prevent oral diseases.