Shared Oral Care. Improvement of Oral Care in Insitutionalized Elderly in Aalborg Municipality (DECIPH'er affiliated project)

The project is a collaborative between The Family and Employment Department and The Elderly and Disability Department, Aalborg Municipality, Institute for Health, Science and Technology, Aalborg University.
Nationally and internationally, more people over the age of 65 and especially an increase of people over the age of 80 enter nursing homes with natural dentition, complex prostheses and bridges than previous generations. Furthermore, there is an increased incidence of dental diseases in the elderly. This is leading to increased and different oral care needs.
This intervention study is aiming at reducing the presence of plaque and inflammation in the paradental tissue in the elderly living in nursing homes in Aalborg Municipality by evaluating an oral care intervention, which is inspired by a situated learning perspective. A working relationship between dental practioners, health care professionals and the elderly is established with the purpose of improving healthcare professionals’ knowledge and competencies to support and perform sufficent oral care in nursing home residents.
The research project is based on Medical Research Council’s framework on how to develop, feasibility test and evaluate complex interventions, including conduction of both effect and process evaluation. A cluster randomised trial on selected nursing homes in Aalborg Municipality is conducted together with a process evaluation. The process evaluation is designed as an embedded multicase study.