The Evaluation of a Particular Health Program - Term Paper Example

? Discuss the Evaluation of a Particular Health Program Discuss the Evaluation of a Particular Health Program Table of Contents 0 Introduction……………………………………………………………………………...3 2.0 Data …………………………………………...................................................................3 3.0 Literature Review ……………………………………………………………………….4 4.0 Program Options …………………….………………………………………………….5 5.0 Implementation…………………………………………………………………………..6 6.0 Evaluation………………………………………………………………………………..7 7.0 Conclusion.……………………………………………………………………..……….9 References…………………………………………………………………………………..11 1.0 Introduction Systematic evaluation is of critical importance in regard to the coordination and delivery of oral health programs. Community oral health programs look into the delivery of sufficient and effective oral healthcare to communities within the society. Evaluation is, therefore, essential as it guarantees that the community-based interventions and strategies are tailored to the needs of all persons in the community, and that all these persons are given an avenue through which they can enjoy the services offered under the program. Oral health is one of the most important constituents of the overall health of mankind, it is, therefore critical to institute evaluative measures to measures for the prevention of oral diseases and promotion of oral health in the communities of both rich, as well as poor nations. This paper will discuss the evaluation of community-based oral health programs such as programs that deal with the prevention of oral diseases and promotion of oral health, finding distinguishing evaluation measures that are employed by different professionals of the oral health fraternity. 2.0 Data Currently, in the US, the biggest issues in regard to the effectiveness of oral health interventions are validity and quality of the programs. The major problem in oral health maintenance programs often involve the quality of outcome measures, insufficient and inadequate program evaluation of the program and processes, and their implementation, as well as the short-term timescales employed in accessing change. It is thus a major challenge to oral health practitioners to incorporate community-based oral health measures into the greater community health agenda. Despite substantial advances made in the oral health of children, there is still high prevalence of oral diseases and subsequent oral disability in adulthood. Oral maintenance programs are inadequate in dealing with oral disorders in the country and the world in persons of low incomes, those that reside in rural and remote regions, as well as a number of immigrant groups that are made up of non-English people like refugees. Evaluation, though fully recognized as an important part of health care, is neglected as a result of insufficient evaluative processes that include insufficient knowledge, skills, dental practitioners and lack of confidence. According to Issel (2009), evaluating a program is necessary in order to gauge its levels of efficacy in meeting the needs of patients, its use of available resources such as technologies and manpower. Evaluation is neglected due to the vagueness surrounding the evaluation process, and insufficient provisions of resources, support and time for the evaluation process. Because of these reasons, the quality of evaluation is sometimes uncertain and compromising. 3.0 Literature Review The World Health Organization Oral Health Program, in 2003, arranged a work shop whose primary aim was to advance the development of evaluative measures in terms of oral health programs such as promotion of oral health and the prevention of oral diseases. The forum sought to recognize predominant issues and challenges in the appraisal of community-based oral health intervention measures, look at advances in evaluation approaches employed in public health, and disseminate vital information on oral health invention modules. This was to be achieved through information sharing by community and national oral health stakeholders in developed and developed countries. Furthermore, the convention established viable guidelines for evaluation of both community and national health programs, especially community-based oral health programs. The forum’s attendees mutually agreed that oral health care invention strategies should be aligned with generalized health care programs. This is aimed at providing proper inventions for the promotion of oral health and prevention of oral diseases. The prevention and promotion of oral health program is, therefore, a key constituent of the overall oral health fraternity. Oral health is essential in overall health as it assures quality of life. This is because a healthy oral cavity is able to speak, eat and intermingle without the fear of embarrassment, pain or discomfort. The effects of oral diseases on people’s lives across the world are both pervasive and subtle. This gives such oral diseases immense power to influence and control the sleeping and eating patterns, work, and social roles of people suffering from oral diseases. The occurrence, as well as recurrence of the impacts of oral diseases is tantamount to a silent pandemic as not all people suffering from oral diseases are aware of the existence of such diseases. For instance, one of the most common kinds of oral disease is dental caries, which is among the top diet-related diseases in the US and the entire world. This is implicit that billions of dollars are spent annually on accessing dental services that not only treat oral diseases, but also provide preventative remedies for oral health problems. The prevention and promotion of oral health program is tailored to meet the needs of dental patients with regard to affording them viable alternatives for the prevention of diseases and promotion of oral health. The majority of dental services across the globe are funded on privatized basis, and often without the help of private dental insurance plans. While governments continue to participate in the direct and indirect financing and provision of dental services, it is largely left up to the private stakeholders to institute measures to ensure oral health quality and promotion of oral disease prevention measures through the prevention and promotion of oral health program. This has typically meant that the public is subject to the biases of the private sector, as the sector’s primary concern is the achievement of supernormal profits. 4.0 Program Options Incorporating the prevention and promotion of oral health program in a community’s overall health regiment ensures the community will receive cost effective and high standards of oral health. Evaluation of public health research shows that in order to ascertain the effectiveness of prevention and promotion of oral health programs, a number of pluralistic approaches that involve both qualitative and quantitative evaluation approaches should be adopted. In addition, prevention and promotion of oral health program should introduce limitations on the design for evaluation of public oral health interventions such as randomized controlled trials (RCT). Moreover, there is the need to equate evaluation methods to the intervention measure used in maintaining community oral health and establish outcome measures that are in line with the features of the invention used. Furthermore, it is paramount to establish workforce capacity with regard to continuous evaluation techniques and strategies aimed at maintaining oral health interventions at par with the national thresholds of oral health provision and quality within the prevention and promotion of oral health program. In order to perform all the aforementioned activities effectively, it is paramount to develop collaborations between health care professionals and academics to facilitate the conduct of effective evaluations in future. Perhaps one of the most viable program options in terms of prevention and promotion of oral health program is the establishment of special considerations for medical insurance card holders for dental health care that is not centered on the logic of private companies, i.e. attainment of profits (Petersen, 1989). The government can establish viable oral health maintenance measures such as mandating all hospitals and other healthcare facilities to treat dental diseases with the same gravity as they do when dealing with, say, cardiovascular diseases. This is because it is apparent that dental health issues are also instrumental in bringing about other more serious diseases such as cancers. Ironically, one of the most popular oral health promotional strategies (use of mouthwash) is blamed for causing some cancers. According to Issel (2009), health programs can only attain optimal efficacy if they establish many centers where concerned persons benefit from their services. There is, therefore, a need to add to the number of dental service suppliers in the US and across the entire world under the prevention and promotion of oral health programs. Currently, the demand for dental health services far outweighs the supply of services. This means that those that are in dire need of dental services may in fact be unable to access the vital service owing to the insufficient number of dental services providers. This is implicit of the fact that while prevention and promotion of oral health programs are effective in countering oral health problems, they are relatively fewer than they should be. Dental health providers include specialist and general dentists, dental therapists, oral health therapists, dental assistants, prosthetics, and dental hygienists (Nutbeam, 1998). 5.0 Implementation The design and essence of RCTs, which are used in prevention and promotion of oral health programs’ clinical oral evaluations show significant improvements in patients’ oral health as a result of utilizing RTCs. However, the relevance of RTCs’ design in preventing oral diseases and promoting oral health is not clear. As a result, the practice of such a regiment (RTC) in prevention and promotion of oral health programs to maintaining oral health may be inappropriately evaluated in the course of systematic reviews. It is apparent that there is a major gap in terms of the projected desired outcomes and the results at hand. It is, therefore, pertinent to conduct more research to find appropriate and immediate temporary and permanent outcome measures. In addition, more research is needed to provide information on process evaluation and assess measures that are considered poorly comprehended and less practiced compared to evaluation outcomes. In order to implement evaluation measures, it is paramount that WHO collaborating centers are given key roles in promoting and enforcing the practice of prevention of oral diseases, training of stakeholders in the global oral health sector, and collaborating among different oral health practitioners all over the world. This can only be done by establishing additional prevention and promotion of oral health programs all over the world. For instance, collaborating centers that conduct systematic reviews of oral health invention strategies should seek the guidance of other collaborating entities (Michele, 2009). In order to implement formidable strategies in prevention and promotion of oral health programs, the government should increase its funding in oral health care systems. This can only occur if the government is actively involved in the evaluation of the oral health care systems in and around the country. By improving government spending on oral health care, the government will be part and parcel of the integration of patients’ aspirations, needs and requirements in terms of their oral health. 6.0 Evaluation The evaluation of prevention and promotion of oral health programs requires major guidance regarding the potential design and conduct of preventative measures regarding community oral diseases. In addition, further guidance is needed on evaluation measures in prevention and promotion of oral health programs, as well as other programs whose aim is to promote oral health. Such guidance should always be established and upgraded on a regular basis. Despite the kind of strategy established to promote quality oral health care and prevent oral diseases, the evaluation process is quite essential as it allows for improvements to be instituted in areas that need it. Evaluation of prevention and promotion of oral health programs facilitates the determination of oral health by increasing control over key elements of oral health. In order to achieve this mission, prevention and promotion of oral health programs should be holistic, equitable, empowering, participatory and multidimensional. For instance, the adoption of evidence based dental practices is essential for prevention and promotion of oral health programs as they offer viable tools for prevention of oral diseases and maintenance of oral health. The RTC, for instance, is one of the most common processes used in evaluating clinical interventions in prevention and promotion of oral health programs. However, in order to achieve optimal success, it is pertinent to adopt other approaches in evaluating the prevention and promotion of oral health program (Kumanan & Keelan, 2009). The evaluation of all programs that promote oral health is crucial for a series of key reasons. These include sharing and distribution of viable examples of good oral health practices and provision of feedback to stakeholders such as dental staff. In addition, evaluations are important as they serve as a channel for dissemination of policy developments and other implementations. Evaluation also provides a means through which effective oral health interventions are developed. 7.0 Conclusion Evaluation, especially systematic evaluation, is pertinent to the achievement of formidable oral health quality standards. This is primarily through initiatives that promote oral health care such as advocating for the reduction of causative agents of oral diseases such as unhealthy eating. These functions are performed by prevention and promotion of oral health programs under the umbrella of the oral health practice. Governments and other health stakeholders implement programs such as the prevention and promotion of oral health program, aimed at promoting oral health through preventing opportunistic oral diseases such as dental caries, as well as other dental problems such as plaque. The evaluation of prevention and promotion of oral health program recognizes that oral health is a key constituent of general body health. Early identification of oral disease is important in the treatment of oral diseases. This, therefore, focuses evaluation measures on promoting health, as well as other formidable prevention measures, which the prevention and promotion of oral health program can boost of achieving. By establishing easy access to effective and quality oral health services, such as promotion of oral health, avoidance of oral diseases, and early treatment and intervention, the government and other health stakeholders can bring formidable changes in the practice of dental health by dental practitioners. In addition, through education on appropriate oral care, communities are able to initiate and support oral health inventions. A broad array of intervention approaches can be identified through oral health evaluations. This is crucial because oral health is paramount to overall health. References Issel, M. L. (2009). Health program, planning and evaluation: A practical, systematic approach for community health. Sudbury: Jones and Bartlett Publishers. Kumanan, W., & Keelan, J. (2009). Coping with public health 2.0. Canadian Medical Association Journal, 180 (10), 1080. Nutbeam, D. (1998). Evaluating health promotion – progress, problems and solutions. Health Promotion International 13(1), 27-44. Petersen, P. E. (1989). Evaluation of a dental preventive program for Danish chocolate workers. Community Dentistry and Oral Epidemiology, 17, 53-59. Petersen, P. E., & Kwan, S. (2004). Evaluation of community-based oral health promotion and oral disease prevention. Community Dental Health, 21, 319-329. Retrieved from http://www.who.int/oral_health/publications/orh_cdh21-4_p1to11.pdf Puska, P. (2000). Do we learn our lessons from the population-based interventions? Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 54, 562-563. Read More