Implementing HEM in the assessment of oral health promotion to families in underserved areas
2019 (English)In: European Journal of Public Health, ISSN 1101-1262, E-ISSN 1464-360X, Vol. 29, no Supplement_4Article in journal, Meeting abstract (Other academic) Published
Abstract [en]
The aim was to, in an oral health promoting setting in low socioeconomic areas, implement a method aiming at improving quality of work by assessing both formative and summative results. The overall aim is to decrease health inequity.
Methods: Five teams of dental hygienists (n = 5) and dental nurses (n = 3), who operated in socioeconomic low-status areas, participated. The teams were performing health promoting activities on arenas as for example family-centrals. These teams were introduced on how to report health promoting activities according to the Health Equilibrium Methodology (HEM), which is based on Social Cognitive Theory. Following questions were put and answered in every report: Which health determinants were targeted? Did any person seem to perceive him-/herself excluded? Did anything unexpected happen? What to think about next time? Quantitative data were also documented: Almost six-hundred individuals were included in a total of 36 reports. Of these 50% were adults/parents and the rest children, most of them between 1-6 years old. The reports were written directly into a database after every activity and then processed by a facilitator and later discussed with the teams in workshops every third month.
Results: Analysis of the reports shows that the implementation of health promoting activities according to HEM included the following: -Identification of important health determinants. - Attention on how to get everyone involved and if anything unexpected happened. - Suggestions for change for the next time. Throughout the workshops the team-members exchanged experiences.
Conclusions: The HEM-method facilitates depicting and discussing the process of health promotion with focus on health equity. Thereby the method has a potential to support development of high-quality health-promoting activities in populations with low socioeconomic status. It may also lead to a better professional self-confidence.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Oxford University Press, 2019. Vol. 29, no Supplement_4
National Category
Public Health, Global Health and Social Medicine
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-39996DOI: 10.1093/eurpub/ckz185.563ISI: 000506895301240OAI: oai:DiVA.org:mau-39996DiVA, id: diva2:1522536
Conference
12th European Public Health Conference Building bridges for solidarity and public health Marseille, France 20th–23rd November 2019
2021-01-262021-01-262025-10-14Bibliographically approved