Journal of Dental Medicine

Mendeley  

Zotero  

Hosseini S M, Pakdaman A. Evaluation of perspective of health care workers (Behvarz) in health centers of Korkooy-Golestan regarding oral health: A qualitative study. jdm 2024; 37 : 11
URL: http://jdm.tums.ac.ir/article-1-6284-en.html

Background and Aims: Dental caries and periodontal disease are the most common chronic diseases. Health care workers specially “Behvarz” due to their wide range of duties, have the potential role in delivering education and prevention of dental caries. The purpose of the present study was to assess the perspective of “Behvarz” working in health care centers of Kordkooy city regarding oral health.
Materials and Methods: Focus group discussions was conducted with a convenient sample of “Behvarz” working in health centers of Kordkooy city.  Total number of 26 Behvarz with the mean work experience of 13 years took part in the study. After obtaining informed consent, group discussions performed in- person (2 groups of 7 and 2 groups of 6 participants) in health centers considering universal precautions. Two researchers coordinated the discussions. Five questions proposed on dental service utilization and oral health challenges and data collection continued until saturation obtained. The content of the discussion recorded and transcribed verbatim. For content analysis, two raters independently coded the content; sub-themes and themes were then extracted and consensus obtained.
Results: More than half of the participants were 34 years of age and older. Regarding the challenges related to dental care in health centers, the main themes were; resource limitation, workload, lack of awareness of “Behvarz” role, limited access, economic barriers to prevention and care. Regarding the challenges to prevention, the main themes were; poor knowledge of patients, limited oral health related knowledge of “Behvarz”, and human resources. The main suggestions were emphasizing on the role of schools, mothers and patient education.
Conclusion: Our research showed that despite the important role of “Behvarz” in delivering oral health promotion at the population level, this role is neglected and needs further attention.