Feasibility of implementing a community-based oral health educational tool for newcomers in Alberta: perspectives of frontline community leaders
Abstract
Early childhood caries (ECC) is a severe form of tooth decay affecting the primary teeth of preschool children. Canadian surveys have found that children from disadvantaged groups, including recent immigrants, have higher rates of caries and lower rates of dental visits than Canadian-born children and tend to seek dental care for treatment reasons.Oral diseases disproportionally affect immigrant communities. For example, besides financial costs, African new immigrant families face additional barriers, including those related to language and cultural values, which leads to a lower rate of dental care uptake for their children. Therefore, there is a clear need to enhance prevention and treatment of oral diseases among recent immigrant children, especially those from communities with a higher prevalence of dental problems. Dental education for immigrant and refugee families can be accomplished through community leaders with experience in health promotion. These individuals have the potential to reach out to newcomer parents, raise their awareness of oral health and preventive care, and facilitate their children’s access to dental services.
Notes
Location
Edmonton, Alberta
Integration timeline
At what point during the integration process the study was conducted?
NA
Key findings
The workshop held in Edmonton helped develop a plan to engage in developing an effective, culturally appropriate oral health educational program for parents of young children from newcomer families in Edmonton.
Gaps identified
There is a need for awareness building among newcomer parents about the significance of children’s oral health and preventative practices. “Canadians from lower income families have consistently worse oral health outcomes, untreated disease, lower rates of dental visits, a higher proportion of individuals who of avoid dental visits, and lower participation in recommended dental care because of costs. Known high-risk group such as new immigrants and Aboriginals, have ECC rates of 50% to 98%” (p. 1)
Community organizations
Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), and University of Alberta school of dentistry (facilitated the workshop)
Key populations
Immigrant and refugee children
Open-access – Yes
https://jcda.ca/sites/default/files/g23_0.pdf
Key recommendations
NA