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Dentistry and oral medicine
Protocol
Oral health interventions for older people in residential aged care facilities: a protocol for a realist systematic review
  1. Amanda Kenny1,
  2. Virginia Dickson-Swift1,
  3. Carina Ka Yee Chan2,
  4. Mohd Masood3,
  5. Mark Gussy4,
  6. Bradley Christian3,
  7. Brad Hodge1,
  8. Susan Furness1,
  9. Lisa C Hanson1,
  10. Samantha Clune1,
  11. Emma Zadow1,
  12. Ron J Knevel3
  1. 1La Trobe Rural Health School, La Trobe University, Bendigo, Victoria, Australia
  2. 2School of Psychology and Public Health, La Trobe University College of Science, Health and Engineering, Bendigo, Victoria, Australia
  3. 3Department of Dentistry and Oral Health, La Trobe Rural Health School, La Trobe University, Bendigo, Victoria, Australia
  4. 4Lincoln International Institute for Rural Health, University of Lincoln, Lincoln, UK
  1. Correspondence to Professor Amanda Kenny; a.kenny{at}latrobe.edu.au

Abstract

Introduction Poor oral health among older people is a global problem impacting on health and well-being. The economic cost to the health system is significant. An ageing population is intensifying the urgency for action. However, poor oral health, particularly for those in residential aged care facilities, continues to be highly resistant to resolution. The overall aims of this realist review are to: (A) explore and synthesise evidence on oral health interventions for older people in residential aged care facilities, (B) produce a causal theory on how contextual factors and mechanisms interact to produce outcomes, and (C) produce guidelines/policies to inform high-quality oral health interventions to improve older people’s oral health in residential aged care facilities.

Methods and analysis The review is guided by the RAMESES publication standards for realist synthesis. Participants include older people in residential aged care facilities, the aged care workforce, carers and families. Interventions include oral healthcare, oral health education, policy interventions and oral health promotion. The five-step realist review process of Pawson et al will guide the review: clarification of scope and development of initial framework, systematic searches, study appraisal and data extraction, synthesising evidence, drawing conclusions, and dissemination, implementation and evaluation. Expert input with key stakeholders will occur through a blog. Stakeholders will examine consistencies across studies and an explanatory causal theory will be developed to guide policy and practice.

Ethics and dissemination Formal ethical approval was granted by the La Trobe University Ethics Committee HREC 20144. The developed theory will guide education, practice and policy decisions about interventions and the factors that impact on implementation. Using an integrated knowledge translation approach, traditional research outputs such as international conference presentations and publications will be supplemented with stakeholder forums, infographics, blogs, social media postings, webinars, podcasts and writing for web-based independent outlets.

PROSPERO registration number CRD42021155658.

  • oral medicine
  • geriatric medicine
  • protocols & guidelines
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/

This is an open access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited, appropriate credit is given, any changes made indicated, and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/.

https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2020-042937

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    Footnotes

    • Twitter @VDSwift, @ekzadow

    • Contributors AK, VDS and MG conceptualised the study protocol and all authors (AK, VDS, CKYC, MM, MG, BC, BH, SF, LCH, SC, EZ, RJK) contributed to the development, writing and reviewing of the protocol document. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

    • Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

    • Competing interests None declared.

    • Patient and public involvement Patients and/or the public were involved in the design, or conduct, or reporting, or dissemination plans of this research. Refer to the Methods section for further details.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.